António Madeira - 2019 - Palheira

António Madeira is on a mission to craft phenomenal terroir-focused wines in the Dão. He’s deeply dedicated to the region—his adopted homeland—and has set out to identify and classify its “grand cru” vineyards and preserve its most ancient ones. 

Madeira is a Parisian of Portuguese descent with family roots in the Serra da Estrela, mainland Portugal’s highest mountain. In 2011 he produced his first wines after discovering a 50-year-old vineyard in the foothills. He quickly realized he’d stumbled upon gold in the Dão: old vines of native varietals such as Tinta Pinheira, Negro Mouro, Tinta Amarela, and Baga; free-draining granite soils; and excellent sun exposures—all combine to make magical wines. Today, he works with small plots in six different villages and farms organically and manually. All of his wines are co-fermented field blends, using indigenous yeast and very little sulfur. If there’s a throughline in his wines it’d be a touch of salinity and ample freshness, with an earthy quality like the first moments after it rains.