Vadio Rexarte 2017

Vadio is a small Bairrada winery founded in 2005 by Luís Patrão to recover traditional Portuguese varieties and make wines with a classic style. Rexarte is a Baga bottling produced only in exceptional years and in tiny quantities, no more than 1,300 bottles. Baga is Bairrada's signature grape, thick-skinned and naturally high in both acidity and tannin, and it thrives on the region's clay-limestone soils under a maritime Atlantic climate that ripens the fruit slowly and keeps its freshness. That combination gives a red of firm structure and lively acidity, built to age. The wine spends twelve months in French oak, where slow oxygen exchange through the staves settles the tannins and adds a restrained spice without covering the fruit. Expect a medium ruby colour, a nose of red berries, redcurrant and plum over dried herbs, earth and leather, and a structured palate with bright acidity, firm but fine tannins and a long savoury finish that balances ripeness and freshness. Serve at 16 to 18 degrees, decanted if young, with roast and braised meat.