A touch of Tejo

An evening of Portuguese food and wine pairing at Fado Restaurant at Hotel Royal, with Tejo region wine maker Diogo Campilho of Quinta da Lagoalva 

 

 

 

Diogo Campilho:  Tejo is a wine region that is growing in popularity a lot, not only in Portugal but also abroad. It is known for having very cold nights and very warm days, which gives the wines a very soft and perfumed characteristic, that is quite unique in Portugal.  We have an abundance of water and with the climate changing and the summers getting much hotter than they were ten years ago, we can irrigate the vines if we need to, which helps to achieve the perfect maturation of the grapes.  In our quinta we have two basic soils. One is sandy where I put all my reds, and the other is clay which I use for the whites.   Tejo is also known for having very international grapes within our wine region, which is good for the export markets.

 

 

We were the first family estate in Portugal to craft Syrah, in 1983, because we believed it was an international grape variety with a lot of potential all over the world.  My father believed that putting Syrah would help the Tejo wines and us to develop our business.  For a person who has never tasted a Portuguese wine, to read the label and see Syrah with Touriga Nacional, gives them a sense of confidence in the wine.  

 

 

For me going to Australia and working there for three years was very good because I could see and learn about different things that were being developed.   For example, one new thing that I brought back to Lagoalva, is that we only pick the grapes during the night, we don’t pick during the day.  It’s impossible to pick grapes when it’s 40 degrees Celcius outside and try to make good wine from those grapes.  So we pick during the night to avoid oxidation, to avoid any wild yeast fermentation from happening, and try to keep all the aromas.  

 

Another thing that we changed is that we ferment everything at very low temperatures to keep the character of the grapes. And we are paying more attention to the labels so they are much easier to read for the consumers.

 

 

I always try to bring the New World aromas; I like my wines to show on the nose the intensity and the originality of the grapes that we use.  Not only the international ones, but the Portuguese ones like Touriga Nacional and Castelao, showing their personality on the nose, and for that I use very low temperatures. But at the same time, using the old techniques that we have in Portugal because we are Old World producers.  So I try for my wines to be New World on the nose and Old World on the palette, to show the tannins, and to make food wines rather than social wines. 

 

Normally I say, we spend 10 months working very hard in the vineyards on the vines, to have two months of pleasure later.  I think the more we work with the vines, the more we work with the terroir, the more we watch the grapes growing, the less we need to do in the winery.   We don’t have to do too much because everything was done for the last 10 months. 

 

And of course it depends on the year. 2015 was a spectacular year and I think it will be one of the best vintages ever in our region.

 

 

Macau has changed a lot since we first arrived.  It is a much more mature market.  Of course, like all markets, it’s tough and difficult to sell because it is full of good wines, but Macau is easier because of the cultural relationship.  Macau people know exactly what to drink and how much they should pay for the wine and if the wine is good or not.  They are price sensitive and perhaps more price sensitive in regards to Portuguese wines as opposed to Australian or French wines.  So pairing the wines and food like we did at Fado restaurant is very important.

 

 

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