My father, now 84, always acted with focus on quality. This approach, that drove is entire life, made him sought out the best advice from a very good (although young) wine grower (Martim Avillez). Being Sintra a mountain range next to the Atlantic, the microclimate is known to be unique and very different from Lisbon. It is much colder and humid. The grapes ripe slowly, immersed in dewy mornings and misty summers and extra care must be taken to shelter the vines from the strong Atlantic winds. Given these conditions, the region is better adapted to short cycle varieties. So, this wine grower recommended my father a risky option, that no one else had ever tried up until then: planting Pinot Noir in Sintra.
Pinot Noir expresses itself very well in the soils and climate of Quinta da Azenha. It is known that it demands the best from the winegrower and that it is not adapted to hot climates, such as those that exist in most regions of Portugal. However, in Sintra, where "winter comes to spend the summer", the Pinot has time to develop its interesting aromatic compounds, without the acidity dropping and the potential alcohol skyrocketing. The harvest is early which allows us to avoid the first rains in September, which would be harmful to Pinot´s thin and sensitive skin. In short, we have ideal conditions for the variety to express itself with all its potential.
As the result was good, a few years later he decided to plant also Merlot, another French grape variety. Again, an original and unorthodox bet.
The Merlot is well adapted to the conditions of our vineyards and, as in Bordeaux, to the wettest and most clayey soils. Although it needs more time to ripen properly, its constitution allows for a later harvest, keeping the skin intact. Its resistance to the salty fogs and high humidity that characterize our region is remarkable.
The result are dry wines, delicate and with rare salty notes. Complex and fresh, with long aging potential in the bottle.
Curiously, some authors point out that the introduction of French vines in the Sintra region may have been a reality long before Quinta da Azenha planted the first Merlot and Pinot vineyards. In fact, our king Afonso III, the big promoter of viticulture in the 13th century, may have introduced some strains of French origin, influenced by his stay in France, as the Count of Bolougne. The Viscount of Juromenha (1838) raises this suspicion, because of the similarity of these wines with some from that country. Ferreira Lapa, Oenology Professor at the Higher Institute of Agronomy, wrote in 1866: "Colares is a wine that has all the requirements and qualities of Medoc red wines, it is the most French wine we have".
Although it is a small production, the wines are selling quite well in Portugal – mostly in fine dining restaurants and wine-cellars. We are producing nearly 8.000 bottles per harvest;
INFINITUDE- present and near-future vineyards
At the moment we have 4 distinct plots:
- Inside the walls, at Quinta da Azenha, Galamares, in the foot of the mountain, we have the main area of Pinot Noir, planted in 2000, and a small area of Merlot, the newest plot in production.
The vineyard is characterized for being installed in "hard soil", a local expression to designate the clay-calcareous soils of the region, in a soft slope with good drainage. More exposed to the North, but protected from the North winds by the gardens that surround it, it is a port of shelter for the grapes, which find here excellent conditions of maturation and retention of the acid freshness that so characterizes them.
- Outside the walls, above the Quinta, we have the Vinha do Casalinho, a plot with less slope and where the main area of Merlot was installed. A bucolic plot embedded between cedar and cork oak trees, ideal place for a slow and complete maturation of the high-quality phenolic compounds that characterize this grape variety.
This plot has grown in 2019, with a new plantation of Merlot, in a contiguous land.
- Casal do Torrado – My plot and the largest and newest vineyard of the Infinitude project, with 2.5 ha, planted in 2018. Located northeast of Quinta da Azenha, on a small plateau with wide horizons, in sight of the mountain but out of its shadow, it´s the plot with the highest exposure to the Sun, hence the name (Torrado=Roasted), and the refreshing winds of the Atlantic. Here, we planted Pinot, Merlot, Riesling, Chardonnay and also, in the lower area, Semillon.
- Boca da Mata - My brother Jorge has also reinforced our production in a smaller land located in Penedo (Colares), immersed in the Sintra mountain forest, even closer to Cape Roca, the western most point of continental Europe. This plot was planted in 2018, with Semillon. Here, we think we have ideal conditions for producing a Late Harvest.
2020 – the year we planted our first Colares vineyard, the sandy soil plot:
- Banagás - Being in Sintra and inside the Colares Demarcated Wine Region, it was always an objective of the Infinitude project to produce a Colares DOC (DOC =AOC Appellation d’Origin Contrôlée) sandy soil wine.
This most cherished objective is becoming a reality as we recently planted 1 ha of sandy vines in Azenhas do Mar. We employed the ungrafted and traditional Ramisco (red) and Malvasia de Colares (white) autochthonous varieties. We are using all the unique and ancient techniques, respecting the Colares terroir and preserving the tradition of the Colares wine culture.
INFINITUDE-Production Philosophy:
The vineyards are extensively managed following the philosophy of Integrated Pest Management and minimal interventions. We are beginning a conversion to total Organic Viticulture.
The winemaking philosophy is that of minimal intervention. In this cooler region, we believe in using time and aging to fine tune our wines. All wines are currently made in the nearby cooperative, Adega Regional de Colares, the oldest and most traditional winery in Colares. Our winemaker is Francisco Figueiredo, with 20 years of experience in the region. We expect to inaugurate our winery in 2023.
We seek that the wine is the expression of the place that sees it born, a holistic integration of the Sea and the Mountain, tempered by the fortitude of those who care for it.
T: +351 220 133 100 *
* National fixed line phone calls
