Antonio Madeira was born and lived most of his life in Paris, but his family roots are in Serra da Estrela – the historic Dão region. It took some time, but Dão kept calling and eventually pulled him back and away from the busy city life... While in France Antonio fell in love with wine by tasting natural wines from Jura and Burgundy and he quickly realised that the old vines of Dão are a hidden gem, only waiting to be re – discovered. In 2011 he made his first vintage from a 50 year old vineyard belonging to a family friend and from then on, begun his quest for the old plots, planted with rare local varieties like: Tinta Pinheira, Negro Mouro, Tinta Amarela and Baga. With some care, those native gnarly vines (many of them on their own rootstocks!) are yielding incredible results! Antonio works in minimalistic, organic way, with micro parcels in six different villages and the wines are always a filed blend (echoing the Dão of the past), wild fermented and with minimal sulphur at bottling. We have met with Antonio several times in Portugal and always loved the purity and the ample energy of his wines. They resonate with us, and we have no doubt he is one of the most exciting winemakers in the region!