Factor XPTO: An alternative fermentation company focusing on small batch, low intervention wines and ciders in Douro, Portugal. Drink or Drown Trying.

Caveman wines started with Luís Remisio who was born in Porto, but always lived outside Portugal in two different continents, until he returned 16 years ago. His family is from Vila Nova de Foz Côa (Douro Superior) where he works with 12 hectares of vineyards with port wine certified benefits; Most Part of this production is sold to cooperatives to make port wine and the rest of the production is vinified to make CaveMan wines (a name linked to rock engravings that are more than 30 thousand years old within Foz Côa). Luís is a new producer who has been making wine for 10 years and launched the brand 3 years ago. The cultivation is organic and not certified but in the process of certification, no chemicals are used in the winemaking process, just a minimum of sulfites with indigenous yeast fermentation.

terms of winemaking philosophy, Caveman’s idea is to progressively use less electricity and water in wine production, with the installation of solar panels and collection of precipitated water, as the producer believes that part of the wines’ terroir also includes its transformation and the mission is to perfect this technique, there is also a small interest for mixed fermentations and they are exploring other fruits also with apple, pear, blueberry and cherry and how they can make combinations with grapes, there is a lot of fruit that is wasted and it is sustainable to take advantage of all the resources that the Douro has to offer.
Caveman wines are not classic Douro wines, despite the project having started in the upper Douro where wines are loaded with a lot of alcohol and tannins, the profile of Caveman wines is the opposite because they are light, fresh with less than 12% alcohol and little tannic structure.