2022 Filipa Pato & William Wouters, Bical & Arinto “Dinamico” Vinho Branco, Bairrada DOC, Portugal.
The slightly reductive and flinty Dinamico Vinho Branco, by the talented Filipa Pato, made from the rare and native Bical grape and Arinto, another fabulous little known Portuguese varietal, shows off loads of flinty mineral intensity, vibrant citrus, green apple and peachy fruits, along with subtle florals, zesty spice, wet stones and bitter almond notes in a bone dry medium bodied white wine. The “Dinamico” lineup is sourced partially from Filipa and William’s estate vineyards in Ois do Bairro, and partially from other growers in various villages in the Bairrada zone on clay and limestone soils. Pato uses, as noted in previous write-ups, only handpicked and fully de-stemmed (reds) all organic grapes here, with a native yeast fermentation employed and then typically raised entirely in tank. Filipa, who is intensely passionate about her region and the local varietals here, like this Bical and of course her beloved Baga, and she is widely admired in the natural wine community and beyond for her talents and authentic offerings. These Pato wines highlight the cooler Atlantic influenced, but sunny continental climate and region’s unique terroir exceptionally well, they are transparent, almost raw and stylish efforts, that are nice values as well.
As mentioned in my prior reviews, there’s a lot to like here, Pato, who’s a darling of the organic and natural wine world and known for her beautiful Baga red wines, does a quality set of non dosage traditional sparkling wines, as well as crisp, mineral driven whites, like this one. Filipa Pato, who is partnered by her husband William Wouters, a Belgian sommelier and wine enthusiast, as I’ve mentioned before, who started her own project in 2001 after working for the family estate in this coastal Portuguese region is now an established leader in Portugal. Pato, as the winery notes, a graduate of the University of Coimbra as a chemical engineer, has refined her skills working harvests in Bordeaux, Mendoza, Margaret River, and right at home in Bairrada with her father, Luis Pato, famous in his own right. She now works a total of 12 hectares of vineyards, only using native grapes, scattered in various plots throughout the Bairrada appellation. Filipa is now a celebrated star in the globally is admired for utilizing biodynamic farming practices and minimal-intervention winemaking, she and her husband, the famous, as mentioned sommelier and restaurateur William Wouters, produce, as they put it, vinhos autênticos sem maquilagem, ‘Authentic Wines Without Makeup’. Again, while known for her reds, Pato does these incredible white wines, as well as a special bottling made from 100% Bical, the best local white grape, from the ‘Grand Cru’ village of Oís do Bairro (Filipa’s hometown) that has the class and structure of a exceptional white Burgundy.
($20 Est.) 90 Points, grapelive