Pato & Wouters - D.N.M.C. Bical Branco 2022

A great white wine from Portugal. Soft and fresh at the same time with notes of grapey white peaches and lemon with a slightly pithy note. A touch saline on the finish. Great with food.

NERD NOTES

A blend of 80% Bical and 20% Arinto grown in calcareous clay soils. 10% of the juice ferments in 500L casks; the other 90% is fermented in tank. Final blend and bottling in spring after 5-6 months’ aging.  The grapes are handpicked from different vineyards located on midslopes with eastern orientation to the sun and a very intense Atlantic influence (only 15 km from the ocean).Bical is harvested in the beginning of September, the Arinto on the other hand, matures later and is harvested 2 –3 weeks later. Vinification happens separately. Whole bunches are pressed, then fermented with indigenous yeast in temperature controlled tank, 10% is fermented in casks of French oak (500 –600 lt). The wine matures on the lees without batonnage, and stabilizes naturally during the cold winter. The final blend is made in early springtime when the wine is stable.