Description

What am I: João Tavares da Pina Rufia Branco

João Tavares da Pina is a bon-vivant, talented cook, and charming conversationalist who is also laser-focused on making pure expressions of his Dão terroir with land that has been in his family for generations. His farm is 40 hectares, with 13 planted with grapes. Dominant on the property are the native Jaen, Rufete and Touriga Nacional red grapes, and Encruzado, Siria, and Bical for white grapes.  He is also bringing back to life several rare and forgotten local varieties in a young vineyard specially planted for this purpose.

In the vineyards, João practices strict organic viticulture and uses no products except for organic compounds. He is somewhat obsessed with the great variety of cover crops that he has on his vineyard. These plants, such as chamomile and lavender, serve as natural fungal repellents and protectors of the vines. The vineyards are mostly granitic, with small parcels of clay, and very ancient marine sedimentary soils.

João has two primary brands that he sells wine under; Rufia, and Torres de Tavares.

Rufia wines tend to be fresh and drinkable young, while Torre de Tavares are more structured and textured wines. Tretas and Lero-Lero stand somewhat alone as their own wines, without a brand, light, fresh reds, right off the press.

This Dão orange wine carries an ethereal aroma and a gentle allure, combining substantial structure with remarkable digestibility. Fragrances span from delicate white blossoms, mandarin oranges, and apricots to the delicate notes of tea leaves and moist earth. A prominent saline essence gracefully lingers.Youthful vines flourish in the embrace of granite and shale clay soils. Nurtured through organic farming with no-till practices, the vineyard thrives on the harmony of biodiversity. Harvested by hand and destemmed, the grapes undergo a 3-week skin-maceration followed by natural tank fermentation. This leads to malolactic transformation and 9 months of lees aging. The unfiltered wine is then bottled, with a delicate addition of sulfites.