Located an hour drive north from Lisbon, in the outskirts of the town of Alvorninha, after a winding road you end up in this incredible traditional Portuguese old Paço, which is 10 minutes away from the seaside. The Quinta was bought by Rodrigo’s grandfather, but his father was the one who planted the first vines on the slopes in the 90’s. Rodrigo Felipe, in the early 2000’s, after working as a civil engineer, decided to start making wine and became a winemaker. He works 9 hectares of vines that belong to a total of 20 hectares of the family’s property of Quinta do Paço. Soil is a mix of clay and limestone, benefitting from the cool Atlantic breeze and high humidity of the area

”I have been making organic farming since 2006. For me this is the most important.

Usually I don’t use sulfites (there is always that indication on the label). I do this because I prefer the result this way.

But I’m not radical in this aspect, as I prefer to use a small amount of sulfites in a wine, if I feel that the wine is going the wrong way.
One characteristic that I really appreciate in wine is the ability to age for many years and I don’t give up on that in my wines. But I don’t consider sulfites so important for this. Quite the opposite, for me they negatively alter the way a wine ages. I focus more on acidity and maceration if needed.

Another important aspect in my winemaking is the use of wood. I’m not looking for the aromas of new wood. The truth is that I’ve never been able to make a stainless steel wine that really excited me 🙂  I have 225 liter, 625 liter and 1600 liter barrels.

I also use some clay amphoras for the skin contact white.

Also, I never filter or fine the wines. I don’t like cloudy wines (with the exception of Pet Nat because it is not disgorged), so I try hard to have the wines clean in the bottle (time, patience and care when removing the wines from the barrels). Although, over time, some sediments can accumulate in the bottle.”