Vale Da Mata, Lisboa Branco 2021

Catarina guides her wines through the fermentation process, intervening as little as possible. She allows the ferments to take place spontaneously with no yeast additions. The grapes are a field blend - grown together, picked together, carefully sorted, and co-fermented. The blend was then aged in French oak barrels for six months, imparting subtle
complexity, followed by a further six months in bottle.

In 2003, José Ribeiro Vieira purchased a four hectare vineyard in the foothills of Serra de Aire of Cortes, in the Alta Estremadura, near Lisbon. Vale da Mata pays tribute to Vieira’s winemaker father, Manuel, who claimed that Vale de Mata was the site where he succeeded in producing his best wines.

The Vale de Mata project respects the expression of its terroir, cultivating the vines sustainably and using minimal intervention in the winery. Manuel gave this wine its name and his granddaughter Catarina Viera has followed in his footsteps, continuing his wine-making legacy. 

The parcel spans just a few hectares and is situated on steep, rocky slopes, making the land extremely difficult to work. Everything is done manually by hand. The site is Protected to the north and has good sun exposure throughout the day.

Vale de Mata is associated with several sustainable programmes; they are a member of the FSC and grow all their grapes according to organic principles.