Bairrada - Quinta da Vacariça
 | Quinta da Vacariça, a French sommelier who makes biodynamic wines in the Portuguese region of Bairrada. |
François Chasans, a sommelier in Paris, tried a Bairrada in 1998 that inspired him to make wine in the region, in the country where his wife comes from. Quinta da Vacariça has about 3 ha, with some old vines and others of recent plantings: 2 ha of vines in Tamengos 100% Baga, 0.3 ha of 90-year-old vines with a variety of native white and red varieties and 0.8 ha in Ventosa do Bairro. Practice biodynamic viticulture and seek the maximum representation of the terroir, with plantings of different clones, low yields, as well as classic vinifications, long phases, with little intervention. A restless and perfectionist François explores his terroir as if there were gold in it.
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François Chasans was a sommelier in France and first came to Portugal in 1998. He came for an agricultural fair in Santarem (in the Tejo region) and there he tried his first Bairrada wine. He loved it and decided he wanted to make wine in the region. A year later he had bought his first vineyard. It was not the most obvious place to make wine. When he came to Bairrada, he said that the wines here were considered the worst wines in Portugal, where the malolactic fermentation was done in the bottle and everything was rough. At that time it was thought that the best wines from Portugal came from the Dão region.
But François was interested in history and was particularly impressed by the wines made in the Buçaco palace, which gave him a better understanding of the history of the region. He began to grow his estates and made his first wine in 2008, with the help of Mario Sergio from Bageiras, a major producer in the region.
He now has 7 hectares of vines, all biodynamically formed. The vines were established by planting rootstocks and then grafting them. In 2015, he tasted the Encruzado from Buçaco and decided to plant some of this variety. But in 2021, more than half of his Encruzado harvest was stolen.
François says that the greatest strength of Bairrada is the acidity that the wines have. There is a large daily temperature range. Here, the effect of the Atlantic Ocean is strong.
In the cellar, he uses a series of barrels: tonels, clay and concrete. But he thinks the big wood is the best.
When he started, Luis Pato told him that it would be impossible to do what he wanted in this region. He was told that because of the climate, you can only make a good Baga once every five years. This prompted him to try to achieve full ripeness.
In the first years, he went for maximum ripeness, but in 2013 and 2014 he realized that ripeness was not a problem and that he did not have the same problems as others. The tradition in the region (because of the challenges of ripeness) is to do three harvests with one crop: sparkling (like a green harvest), then tinto, then garrafeira. He does not work like that. After 2013 and 2014, he realized that ripeness was not a problem and decided to aim for 12.5% alcohol instead of aiming for maximum ripeness. Baga is a versatile variety, he says. To appreciate these wines, they need time, and the bottle needs time after opening.