Bical / Malvasia Fina ’23 is the product of a very hot year, when harvest began earlier than usual with grapes picked from late August until early September. Whole bunches were pressed and given 25 days’ skin contact. Just before the end of fermentation, half of the juice was placed in a beeswax-coated amphora, while the other half went into stainless steel. Aged in these separate vessels for 6 months, it was then combined to create the final blend, with 20mg of SO2 at bottling. A light wine with an aroma of hay and citrus, drink chilled.

Rufia Branco de Curtimenta 2023 is made with 50% Cerceal Branco along with Encruzado, Síria and a small amount of Malvasia Fina and Bical; it joins a number of other bottles in the Rufia line, a range of young, fresh wines which celebrate minimal intervention and early bottling. The vineyards are situated on granite soil, with plots rich in ancient marine sediments from 500 million years ago. The different varieties were all harvested on the same day in early September, passed through a de-stemmer and fermented together. Two weeks on the skins and around 9 months in stainless steel with primary lees contact before bottling. Enjoy chilled and look out for some exciting new wines inspired by harvest ’24: a white and a red pet nat, as well as a red wine made with Bastardo and Malvasia, aged in amphora.

Mimosa is made with 100% Jaen, known outside Portugal as Mencía. The grapes were de-stemmed and placed in a traditional Portuguese lagar; a large granite tank with capacity for around 3000 kilos of grapes. Here the grapes were trodden underfoot for an hour, every day for three days. After the juice was extracted, the must was pressed with a hydraulic press to gather every last drop, which was added to the stainless steel tanks. A fun, juicy wine with low tannins and a hint of blackberry and good acidity. Drink lightly chilled.