Filipa Pato Espirito de Baga 2020

Filipa Pato works in Bairrada in Portugal, continuing her father Luis Pato's long championing of the region's Baga grape. Espirito de Baga is an unusual bottling, a fortified red at 18 percent alcohol, farmed biodynamically and offered in a half bottle. Bairrada takes its name from the clay, bairro, that dominates its soils, and these cool, damp, Atlantic influenced clays give Baga its high acidity and firm tannin, which here carry the extra weight of fortification. The wine is aged two years in barrel and a remarkable fifteen years in bottle, so slow oxygen exchange through the wood and long reductive ageing in glass have carried the fruit from fresh into deep, dried and developed territory. The colour is deep garnet with a browning rim. The nose is rich and warming, with prune, dried fig and raisin over dark chocolate, walnut and warm cinnamon. The palate is full and sweetly fruited but held taut by Baga's natural acidity and grip, giving a long, savoury, spiced finish. Serve it at 16 to 18 degrees in a small glass, as a wine to end a meal. It suits dark chocolate, nuts and mature cheese.