Folias de Baco "Uivo" Pet Nat Curtido

Douro, Portugal Folias de Baco was founded by Tiago Sampaio, a viticulturist who trained in Oregon before returning home to the Douro to farm organically and champion the region's native grapes with minimal intervention, making him one of the most exciting figures in Portugal's growing natural wine scene. The Douro, best known globally for Port, is increasingly gaining recognition for this new wave of fresh, low-intervention still and sparkling wines coming from its dramatic, schist-covered slopes. Uivo Curtido is made from 100% Moscatel Galego, hand-harvested from 40-year-old vines in the Cima-Corgo sub-region (Alijó), grown at an average altitude of 600 meters on schist and granite-derived soils. True to its "curtido" name (meaning "tanned" or "cured," referencing the skin contact), the whole berries are destemmed directly into cement tank and macerated on their skins for around two weeks to four months, depending on the vintage, with no added sulfur, yeast, fining, or filtration. It's bottled using the ancestral method (a single fermentation completed in bottle, without disgorgement), resulting in a naturally cloudy, unfiltered pét-nat. Expect a pale to intense yellow color depending on skin contact time, and a cloudy appearance, don't shake off the sediment, it's meant to be served that way. The nose is aromatic and exuberant, showing rose petal, lychee, tangerine, peach blossom, and ripe tropical fruit, with wildflowers layered throughout, true to Moscatel Galego's naturally perfumed, grapey character. On the palate, expect delicate, fine bubbles, a medium body with a chewy grapefruit and unripe apricot core, gentle tannin texture from the skin contact, and bright, persistent acidity carrying through to a long finish. It's a playful, food-friendly natural sparkler best served cool and slightly cloudy, an easy match for shellfish, fried snacks, Thai or Goan-style spiced dishes, grilled vegetables, or simple roast chicken. A genuinely fun, low-intervention introduction to the Douro's lesser-known aromatic grapes beyond the usual Port-focused blends.