PGA Reserve Red 2021

Coming from a family of small wine producers in the municipality of Anadia, capital of Bairrada, Pedro Guilherme Andrade soon realized that winemaking was his destiny.

It was Pedro's great-grandfather, António Martins Simões, who planted the first vines. At that time, the traditional varieties of Bairrada, such as Baga and Castelão, predominated. With the death of the patriarch, it is Pedro's grandfather, Agostinho Andrade, who continues the production of wine on the property in Vale de Boi, which in the meantime has gained greater dimensions. The cultivation of the vine was carried out according to the methods of the time, the land being dug with hoes and enriched with abundant bush. The production of wine was taken over in the last decades of the 20th century by Pedro's father, António Guilherme Andrade, after the death of his father. It was a family imperative to continue the cultivation of vines, but now with a new lease of life motivated by the expansion of land and the introduction of new techniques and equipment.

The almost total transformation of the production involved, from the outset, the vineyard, whose cultivation area increased significantly and gained new varieties. At the same time, the maturation of the wine is no longer carried out in wooden vats, but replaced by stainless steel vats and French oak barrels. This winemaking work that spanned generations is anchored in terroir with exceptional characteristics for the production of still and sparkling wines with the Bairrada Designation of Origin. In clay-limestone soils located at a high level, the red grape varieties Baga, Touriga Nacional and Merlot and the white varieties Bical, Cercial and Chardonnay predominate. The vineyard at a higher altitude means that the still and sparkling wines produced here have good acidity, balance and freshness, characteristics that also result from the moderate climate of the Bairrada region, whose temperate winters are followed by summers softened by the Atlantic breeze. The modernized winery ensures that the quality of the grapes gives rise to well-structured, elegant and with potential for longevity, still and sparkling wines.