Pato and Wouters, biodynamics in the bottle – Portugal Resident

Filipa’s family have made wine in Bairrada for five generations. Her father, Luís Pato, is often considered the winemaker who put Bairrada ‘on the map’. Father and daughter have always, however, followed different winemaking philosophies and work independently.

William, a chef, sommelier and fifth-generation member of an Antwerp family of restaurateurs, first visited the Bairrada 23 years ago with a group of Belgian sommeliers. “It was like driving into Volnay in Meursault, all small hills and limestone,” he recalls.

Filipa studied Chemical Engineering at the University of Coimbra, before travelling to some of the world’s great wine regions to gain winemaking experience: Bordeaux, Mendoza, Margaret River – “a fantastic experience”.

The young couple began small, buying in the grapes they needed.

According to the authoritative The Oxford Companion to Wine, “by the early 1700s, Bairrada’s dark, tannic wines were widely drunk in Britain, masquerading as or blended with Port”.

Bairrada became a DOC wine region in 1979 and, since the 1980s, has received growing attention as a quality wine region famed for its sparkling wines, and particularly its red Baga grape (in Portuguese ‘baga’ means ‘berry’).

“Biodynamics is the future” – William Wouters

Today, Pato and Wouters farm 20 hectares of vineyards around Óis do Bairro, between the Atlantic Ocean and the Serra do Caramulo hills, an area with a maritime climate and limestone or clay soils. The couple are committed practitioners of biodynamic viticulture, running one of Portugal’s three certified biodynamic vineyards.

Biodynamic agriculture, a minimal form of low-intervention farming, is based on the 1924 farming theories of Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner.

“Biodynamics is the future; you don’t have to be a scientist to understand this. If you taste a biodynamic wine next to a conventional wine, there’s a world of difference. One vineyard is alive, the other is dead,” William affirms.

In the Centre and North of Portugal, inheritance laws led to the division of vineyards into small, scattered plots among a geography of low hills and valleys. “Our 20 hectares are divided between 37 plots, with our biggest plot only two hectares. It’s a puzzle,” explains William.

The vineyards are surrounded by forest and orchards, which help to maintain a healthy and biodiverse ecosystem. In the old days, trees were planted to mark boundaries between different owners’ properties. “We have fig, apple, olive and cork trees on our property. This is not monoculture, it’s polyculture.”

Bairrada is monovarietal. William comments: “Our plots are like a soloist in a symphony orchestra. Soloists cannot hide, they must stand out, otherwise it’s terrible. When you work with a monovarietal, you have a true expression of terroir – there’s no filter. This is very different to blending several grape varieties.”

Filipa was born here and possesses a strong emotional bond with the land. With an eagle eye for detail, she leads a viticultural team of 10 people. “We work with beautiful centenarian vineyards, by hand, without mechanization. Today, they’re at their peak, it’s as if they’re having a second life,” Filipa says.

“It’s quite a challenge to practice biodynamic viticulture in these old vineyards. In new biodynamic vineyards, you can use a tractor and mechanise, but here everything must be done by hand, and this is why we introduced the animals.”

Pigs fertilise the land and clean everything up around the vines, brushing them gently with their skin. “We have our own breed, the Portuguese Bísaro crossed with small Vietnamese pigs. Being small, they don’t damage the vines, while our sheep stick around in the same corner of the vineyard. We have a mule who acts as the sergeant major to make the sheep move,” relates William.

“Authentic wines without makeup” – Filipa Pato

In 2020, Filipa Pato was named Winemaker of the Year by the Portuguese wine magazine Revista dos Vinhos. She describes the wines she makes from indigenous grapes as “authentic wines without makeup”.

Half of Filipa and William’s entire vineyard holdings are planted with Baga, an expression of Bairrada’s authenticity that differs from village to village. In addition to reds high in acidity, tannic and suitable for ageing, their wines made from Baga include rosé and sparkling … and a wine fortified with Baga brandy.

The whites are terroir-focused, often almost Burgundian in style, from varieties which include Arinto, Cercial, Maria Gomes and, for freshness, Bical.

The couple are keen wine travellers: to California, Champagne and Burgundy, where their French importer is based in Nuits-Saint-Georges. “I believe you can only make wine where you live, so we don’t make wine elsewhere. This is one of the reasons we can do biodynamic, because we live in the village where the vineyards are planted. It’s like raising your kids; you need to be constantly present,” Filipa explains.

Pato and Wouters belong to ‘Renaissance des Appellations’, an international group of biodynamic growers with members from 13 different countries. “It’s important for us to be in an international group where we can exchange knowledge and experience,” William comments. “The new generation in Portugal is very active. Some of our colleagues are now interested in becoming certified biodynamic.”

Looking forward

In response to Portugal’s rising tourism figures, Filipa and William have recently opened a wine shop in Óis do Bairro, where they sell their own wines as well as a selection of champagnes from producer friends. “We’re seeing lots of Americans, especially Californians used to wine,” William observes.The company’s main export market is the United States.

Are they perhaps concerned about the global decrease in wine consumption? “This is related to a disconnection with agriculture. People don’t visit the land, so they don’t understand farming,” Filipa remarks.

“Connection with agriculture helps young people to be more attentive to what they eat. In Portugal, school starts on September 15, so we have a lot of kids participating in the harvest. This is hopeful for the future; if they can have this connection with the vineyards, then they will drink wine,” she predicts.

“We plan to conduct workshops to educate the new generation to connect with the countryside and our vineyards.”

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Read more articles from James Mayor: Tiago Capela Lourenço, climate adaptor  or ‘Africa in the Spotlight’ exhibition in Lisbon