There is a new Algarve wine that is being launched at the Lagoa Wine Show, which takes place at the Arade Congress Center (Parchal), with free entry, and ends tonight.
It is the brand «MarchaLégua», created by the brothers Michael and Aníbal Neto, and which presents, for example, the only black white currently being produced in the Algarve. And what is a noir blanc?, the less knowledgeable reader will ask. It is a white wine made from red grape varieties, in the open spout system.
Michael Neto proves the black white MarchaLégua 2015, a wine «made with 50% Aragonês and 50% castellan, unusual, crystal white, which, at first glance, almost looks like water», but which, in the glass, «makes tears» and then explodes in distinct aromas and flavors, in the nose and mouth.
The producer explains that the wine production of the Agrolares company, headquartered in Faro and that they also have businesses in a very different area, health (Michael Neto is an Emergency Nurse at the hospital in Faro, and another of the partners is the Anesthesia director of that hospital unit), is made from «old grape varieties and old vines» located in Tavira, Paderne, Lagoa and Lagos.
In total, Agrolares has 27 hectares of vineyard spread across these parts of the region, producing 55 liters of wine. Vinification takes place mainly at Adega do Cantor, in Albufeira, and also at the Única winery, in Lagoa. The wines are then aged in French oak barrels.
"This is a three-year job, which has only just hit the market." The responsible oenologists are Aníbal Neto, one of the brand's owners and responsible for the Algarve Wine Route, and João do Ó.
Michael Neto, who admits that wine production is a way to “clear the head” of his demanding work as an emergency room nurse, explains some of the tricks: there are people waiting to receive these grapes at night». Because the sun, he explains, "oxidizes the grape" and reduces its quality.
One of the bets of these new producers is to “save varieties that were falling into disuse, such as the black mole. It is a variety that has to be well vinified, and that, associated with another type of grape, produces wines of splendid quality».
But Agrolares does not intend to keep only the wines – white, red and rosé – from the MarchaLégua brand that it is launching at the Lagoa Wine Show. «For vintages from exceptional years, we will be launching another brand and range of wines, which will be Herdade Pés da Serra», adds Michael Neto. «These will be wines from the same vineyards, but which we will only produce in years of exceptional quality».
The young producer speaks with enthusiasm about his wines and the rebirth of the Algarve viticulture in general. «There was a lot of abandonment of vines, which were replaced by concrete. But there is even a whole genetic heritage of the old varieties, which we have in our old vines, which must be preserved and defended, if we want to have wines with a different character, truly from the Algarve».
In addition to the MarchaLégua, the Lagoa Wine Show features nearly three dozen wine producers from the North (Arcos de Valdevez) to the South of the country, with a natural predominance of Algarve brands. This Sunday, the 24th of April, is the last day of the event, which opens at 17:00 pm and continues until 3:00 am, thanks to the Deolinda concert (21:30, tickets for 10 euros), followed by the sets by DJ Raquel Loureiro.
But, before that, there is a lot of wine to taste, snacks to taste, commented tastings (from 19:00 pm to 21:00 pm), a cooking show by the Head Augusto Lima with Algarve flavors (20:30). Admission to the Lagoa Wine Show is free, but whoever wants to taste the wines will have to buy a glass with the logo of the event, for 5 euros. And then… it's going to prove and prove.
In the year in which Lagoa was elected “City of Wine”, the City Council is promoting for the second time this one of the biggest exhibitions/sales of wines in the south of the country.
On Friday, at the opening of the event, Francisco Martins, president of the municipality, guaranteed that this new costume for the Lagoa Wine Show «will leave a mark in Lagoa and in the region».
The Lagoa Wine Show is organized in collaboration with the Algarve Wine Route, the Association of Portuguese Wine Municipalities and the “Wine in Moderation – Art de Vivre (WIM) Aisbl”, non-profit association founded in 2011 by the European wine sector, to coordinate the European and international implementation and development of the Wine in Moderation Program, with a view to ensuring responsible and moderate wine consumption standards as a social and cultural norm through dissemination that message inside and outside Europe.
See more photos from Lagoa Wine Show by clicking here.
Contact MarchaLégua – Regional Wines of the Algarve: 916985666 or [email protected]
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