João Tavares de Pina
Penalva do Castelo (Dão)

João Tavares da Pina is one of those people you meet whose energy you instantly feed off. A bon-vivant, with a glint in his eye, João has been making wine on his family estate since 1990. Since then, he has become one of the most prominent viticultural conservationists and voices on the importance of organic farming and minimal intervention winemaking in allowing the true expression of terroir in Portugal.  

Quinta do Boavista has been in João’s family since 1650, but in the past few centuries the family have sold their wines to larger wineries, and eventually the large co-operatives of Dão. Indeed, under the rule of fascist rule of Salazar post world war two, all the way through until Portugal joined the EU in 1986, all grapes in most regions, including Dão, had to be processed by a co-op. This policy led to the mass homogenisation of vine material and the farming of quantity over quality to the nth degree. João has strived to reverse this in the decades since.

With 13 of their 40 hectares under vine, João works with 13 different varieties, most of which are native to Dão. The most prevalent are Jaen (known as Mencia just over the border in Spain), Rufete, Touriga Nacional, Alvarelhão, Bastardo, and Alfrocheiro Preto for red wines. Encruzado, Cerceal, Bical, Malvasia Fina, Barcelo, Verdelho, and Arinto make up a majority of the white plantings.

João has planted a specific nursery vineyard dedicated to 40 rare and almost forgotten local varieties that are being nurtured to be planted as larger vineyards in the near future, preserving an almost extinct genetic diversity and cultural history of the region.

Topsoils are mostly granitic with clay shale, with extremely ancient marine sedimentary bedrock. Farming has been organic since 1990 with particular attention paid to encouraging wild grasses and naturally antifungal native cover crops, such as clover, serradella, chamomile and lavender, especially important in the damp and humid mountainous environs of Dão. The estate is also littered with solar panels, to the extent that they are a net exporter of electricity, making their production carbon-negative.

Grapes are picked up to two weeks earlier than his neighbours, with João looking for freshness and energy in his wines, without sacrificing full ripeness and flavour. Dão’s high altitude and relative coolness allow a great balance of freshness and complexity.  

The wines are as energetic and enigmatic as the man who makes them, with a definite focus on drinkability and verve. Winemaking is as hands-off as it comes allowing the transmission of terroir from vineyard to bottle. Fermentations happen in stainless steel lagars, before maturing in stainless or in large format old traditional chestnut barrels. Whites are directly pressed or allowed extensive maceration depending on the site and the vintage. Macerations in the reds are kept short to allow for expressions of vitality. Sulphur additions are minimal (less than 30 ppm) and only at bottling.