For many couples, living and working in the same space 24/7 during lockdown has been akin to a social experiment – often with less-than-successful results, judging by the spike in divorce rates over the past year. How does one navigate the pitfalls so that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?
Portuguese wine producers are well versed in the art of blending. For three egalitarian ‘power couples’, the road map was already drawn. Turbocharged communication skills and pooled resources have fuelled the success of millennial labels from Sandra Tavares da Silva and Jorge Serôdio Borges (Wine & Soul), Filipa Pato and William Wouters (Pato & Wouters) and Catarina Vieira and Pedro Ribeiro (Herdade do Rocim).
While each couple have arrived at their own blend of roles and rules, there are common threads. For all of them, work is life. ‘It's impossible to have boundaries,’ admits Tavares da Silva. Shared values, bonds of trust and being curious have been cornerstones of success – whether they’re working together or apart. ‘New projects and new opportunities open your mind,’ observes Ribeiro. He has an independent label, Bojador, while Tavares da Silva and Serôdio Borges also have side projects (Crochet and MOB, respectively) with winemaker friends.
Learning together – constantly pushing, improving and supporting one another – has catapulted these 21st-century progressives to the forefront of Portugal’s contemporary wine scene. Here, the sum has been greater than the parts.
NORTH PORTUGAL: DOURO
Sandra Tavares da Silva & Jorge Serôdio Borges
Wine & Soul
この記事は Decanter の August 2021 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は Decanter の August 2021 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
A Resource for the World? - Argentina is unique in the genetic diversity preserved in much of its vine material. With climate change and disease posing increasing threats worldwide, Catena Zapata winery is asking what lessons can be learned to protect vineyards within and beyond the nation's borders
Argentina is unique in the genetic diversity preserved in much of its vine material. With climate change and disease posing increasing threats worldwide, Catena Zapata winery is asking what lessons can be learned to protect vineyards within and beyond the nation’s borders
Great Cabernets of South America
Other varieties may hog the limelight across South America, but the world’s most popular grape for red wines has played a critical role in the continent's wine heritage. We trace Cabernet Sauvignon’s story here, and recommend 16 benchmark wines to try
PROVENCE by train and bike
With rail links to Paris, Nice, Marseilles and beyond, a vast network of cycle paths and quiet roads, and a plethora of historic wine estates, Provence is an ideal destination for an eco-friendly, car-free and carefree) holiday
IN THE MIX
These days most of the world’s vineyards are planted to just a single variety, but what happens when multiple varieties are planted, harvested and blended together?
Malvasia A BUYER'S GUIDE
If ever a grape was hard to pin down, it'd be Malvasia. Indeed it’s not even a single grape variety. In all of its many varied, and often completely unrelated guises, it has been the mainstay of popular wine styles across the centuries. Our expert takes a closer look...
RIBERA ADOPTS THE NEW OLD WAYS
It’s not so much a new direction for winemakers in Ribera del Duero, but a growing recognition that traditional methods and wine styles set aside by the previous generation can now provide a way ahead to revitalise the region
Roussanne around the world
Up for a challenge? For winemakers as much as wine drinkers, getting a handle on a mercurial grape such as Roussanne isn't easy. But wherever it's grown, when the balance is right, it truly repays the effort
Napa Cabernet 2021
There's a lot of excitement about this vintage, in which conditions were relatively calm and temperatures stable through summer. Ongoing drought reduced yields but intensified flavours, but it means quantities are down and you may need to act fast to secure top wines. Our Napa correspondent selects 60 great wines from more than 500 that he tasted, with many very high scores
10 reason to discover Uruguay
Squeezed between Brazil and Argentina on the Atlantic coast, Uruguay has mostly flown under the tourist radar - until now. Once dubbed 'the Switzerland of the Americas', it's a welcoming country that has much to offer the travelling wine lover
Leo Erazo
The old vines and special terroir of Itata, southern Chile, have beena source of inspiration for this intrepid winemaker. The 2023 fires were a setback, but his commitment to this ancient wine land is undiminished