Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/221505
PHOTO: LANA BORTOLOT PHOTO: LANA BORTOLOT Tiago (left) and his father Domingos, of Alves de Sousa, father and son non-conformists. Luis Pato of Luis Pato winery. Douro's Red Wine Pioneers Frederico Gomes (left) of Casca Wines and Francisco Homem de Figueiredo of Adega Regional de Colares. PHOTO: LANA BORTOLOT People like to say there's one twisting road into the Douro and one winding road out. Given its isolation, it's of little surprise that winemakers here have taken matters into their own hands. One of those was port producer Ramos Pinto, which in the 1980s produced its first tables wines at two quintas in the Douro. They were released under the Duas Quintas label as part of the Roederer Group in 1990, followed by the first reserve wines only a year later. Since then, groups such as the Douro Boys and the Porto-based Independent Winegrowers Association (IWA) have formed, commonly promoting their region while keeping their respective non-conformist identities. And there's room for everyone, says Tiago Alves de Sousa, one of five members of the IWA. "The Douro Valley is like Disneyland for winemakers: We can do a little bit of everything," says Alves de Sousa, whose father, Domingos also broke tradition in 1991, making modern table wines at his eponymous winery. Luis Pato, another IWA member, leverages that platform, saying his wines are made in Old World tradition but with the precision of New World wines. Again, Mendes has guided them. On the coastline west of Lisbon, two young oenologists are making wine in what is one of the most extraordinary viticultures in existence. In the tiny (14-hectare) Colares DOC, Frederico Vilar Gomes of Casca Wines and Francisco Homen de Figueiredo of Adega Regional de Colares are working to uphold, if not save, their unique wines. The rare Ramisco (red) and Malvasia de Colares (white) vines are planted just meters from the Atlantic Ocean, its cool and foggy weather creating an ultra-microclimate for the vines. Sheltered by windbreaks and untrellised, they sprawl, spider-like, across the sand. Then, on the cusp of ripening, the vines are propped up by short canes, looking like leafy pup tents that raise the bunches off the ground as they mature, while protecting them from the sun. Ramisco, which comprises 80 percent of the DOC, undergoes a dramatic transformation in the cellar. "During fermentation, the wine smells like garlic and bile, but it evolves during four years of aging into a long-lived wine 90 / the tasting panel / december 2013 TP1213_064-103.indd 90 11/23/13 8:35 PM