Factor XPTO: Sharing a glass of wine is a unique journey that makes people happy

In the world of wine, there are many examples of city dwellers who, at certain points in their lives, for one reason or another, decide to leave the big metropolis and move to the countryside, dedicating themselves to wine production. Ricardo Moreira’s case fits exactly into this category, but instead of settling in a French wine region, he decided in 2017, after careful consideration, to change countries and return to his roots at Celorico de Basto, deep in the Portuguese Vinho Verde region, in Minho. His clear purpose was to recover land that had for long belonged to his family, land that had not been used for wine production for 16 years.

Ricardo’s personality is grounded in well-thought-out ideas and strong convictions, which in the Basto region are tested by high levels of rainfall, challenging his desire to be as non-interventive as possible in the vineyard. In other words, he aims to take nothing away and add nothing to what nature offers every year. Another significant challenge has been increasing the area of vine cultivation, which must always align with the sustainability of ecosystems and biodiversity. At Quinta do Penhó, over 10,000 trees coexist with the vines, including oaks, cork oaks, pines, plane trees, olive trees, and fruit trees, with a diverse range of wildlife roaming the land, including deer, wild boars, red kites, ravens, blackbirds, partridges, foxes, rabbits, snakes, and all kinds of insects.
Regarding the work in the winery, all grapes are foot-trodden in a 300-year-old granite lagar. Fermentations occur spontaneously through the action of indigenous yeasts. The wines are aged in used French oak barrels and, sometimes, in stainless steel. Ricardo is not a fan of bâtonnage, and with the exception of small amounts of sulfur added at bottling, no chemicals are added to the wine, nor is any procedure undertaken to alter the vintage.