Filipa Pato '3B' Blanc de Blancs' 2013

We feel a strong kinship with Filipa Pato. We imagine ourselves as having a kind of Bonnie and Clyde-type relationship, only without the outlaw element. Or the robberies. Or the shooting. Basically like a friendly, law-abiding Bonnie and Clyde. Why? Because she represents all that is fantastic about tiny-production and is a champion of the obscure and that is right up our street. This Blanc de Blancs (meaning that it's a sparkler made from all white grape varieties) uses indigenous varieties Maria Gomes, Bical and Arinto and is bone dry, with a fragrant lemon fresh zing. With wines this good, there's just no need for bank robberies.

Filipa Pato has a small space for her winery at the back of her father's winery (Luis Pato) where she has made wine since her first vintage in 2001, though she has plans for the construction of a new winery. Filipa’s philosophy is ‘authentic wines without makeup’ and by this she means no new oak, no oak chips and no concentrators or acid additions. She wants the terroir of the wine to show as clearly as possible.

After finishing her Chemical Engineering at Coimbra University Filipa worked in Bordeaux for Axa Millesimes and followed this up with a short winemaker course at Bordeaux University. She then went to Argentina to work for Finca Flichman and then to Australia to work for Leeuwin Estate, before returning to Portugal to set up her own business. She is married to William Wouters, a well-known Belgian restaurateur in Antwerp and has two young sons.
The indigenous grape varieties - Maria Gomes, Bical and Arinto – were picked early and pneumatically pressed. Dosage is added and secondary fermentation takes place in the bottle, immediately after alcoholic fermentation. The wine was disgorged in the spring.

This is a bone dry but fragrantly and aromatic sparkling wine. Bical lends body to the wine, arinto is primarily responsible for the lemony fresh acidity and Maria Gomes brings an aromatic quality to the nose. Though completely dry with almost zero residual sugar, the wine has a most attractive fruity character which makes it ideal as an aperitif or with light dishes.