Bojo do Luar Trio

The Trio brings together three 2020 wines from Bojo do Luar: Deu Bode (red), Tez (orange), and Luar Rosa (rosé). All three are made from indigenous northern Portuguese varieties grown on deep granitic soils near the Tâmega River, in the foothills of the Serra do Marão mountain range. The vineyards have south-southwestern exposure and are farmed organically and biodynamically, with Demeter certification. Soils are fertilized with self-made compost blended with chicken and cow manure.

Deu Bode is a 70/30 blend of red and white varieties — Vinhão, Borraçal, Bastardo, Espadeiro, Arinto, and Loureiro — hand-harvested in early October. The red varieties undergo a five-day maceration before spontaneous fermentation in stainless steel. Tez is made from equal parts Avesso and Azal: the Avesso macerates for five months with 10% whole clusters while the Azal is directly pressed, both fermented without temperature control. Luar Rosa blends 80% Azal with 20% Espadeiro, with a twelve-day skin maceration followed by fermentation and three months of aging in 100-year-old clay talhas (amphorae).

Across all three wines, ground chestnut flowers — approximately 1 kg per 1,100-liter amphora — are added at the start of fermentation. Fernando Paiva, the first Portuguese producer to hold Demeter certification, introduced this technique as a natural stabilizer in place of sulfur. All wines are unfiltered. Minimal sulfur is used at bottling on some wines in the range, at levels between 10 and 30 mg/L.

The region around the Tâmega benefits from a cool spring followed by warm days and cool nights through the September–October harvest. This temperature variation, combined with the naturally high tartaric acid levels of the chosen varieties, gives these wines their defining freshness and mineral edge without any acidification in the cellar.