The time has come for Joana Pinhão to show her interpretation of what an elegant and fresh wine from the Tagus wine region can be. As if closing a circle, it is back to its origins, after twelve successful years in the Douro. Joana is from Ribatejo, from Alpiarça. Here, the winemaking tradition is well rooted and has a long memory.
Joana would soon accompany her grandparents and parents in the vineyards and in the olive groves, like many young people, in rural areas, the school holidays, in the summer, were of less rest or leisure. Among the station's activities were the sweaty harvests, leaving a mark, which was felt when it came time to decide on a professional path, going to study agronomic engineering at the Instituto Superior de Agronomia in Lisbon in 2000, always with the objective of learning and dedicating himself to the world of wine and vineyards.
There was also time to do an internship in the neighbourhood, at Casa Cadaval in 2006, and the following year, in 2007, she joined the oenology team at Quinta Vale Dona Maria, where she remained until April 2019.
It was the Douro, which at that time was bubbling with energy, with restless characters and where multiple developments took place, that made her grow and gave her experience and, where she still maintains professional ties.
In 2009 and 2010 she took the opportunity to harvest in the Toro region of Spain, and in 2012 she went to South Africa to learn about the winegrowing reality in the Southern Hemisphere.
However, she remained an unfulfilled dream, the creation of a personal project in the region that welcomed her, the Douro. In 2011, in partnership with the winemaker Rui Lopes, a friend and colleague from the time when he was studying at the Instituto Superior de Agronomia, the dream of making his own wine showing his vision of the Douro and its old vineyards, came true with the creation of from the brand Somnium.
Over time, and seeing the recognition that the Tagus region has garnered, the idea arose of moving forward with another personal project, now in the region that saw it grow, Alpiarça.
Taking advantage of her great-grandfather's vineyards, 4 hectares acquired in 1916, which, in the meantime, were leased and later recovered, Joana gave birth to her solo and personal project, Casal das Aires. Name inherited along with the property.
In 2015, he reconverts the vineyards in Charneca (one of the three areas of the Tagus wine region), where he bet on several national varieties such as Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Touriga Franca, Bastardo, Bical, Arinto, Fernão Pires, Alvarinho, Loureiro, Avesso and in the international ones, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah and Alicante Bouschet. A total of 16 varieties planted in 3 of the 4 hectares, to have a variety of varieties available so that you can “play”, experiment, adding to the equation the complexity of the four types of soil that you have at your disposal.
She also does not leave out the traditional varieties of the region such as Trincadeiras, Preta and das Pratas, whose rarity had challenged Joana's interest in trying them.
Here, Joana is not only dedicated to oenology, she also does the part of viticulture in which she privileges low production to the detriment of quantity. It also always has the objective of sustainability of the region's viticultural ecosystem, along with the promotion of biodiversity in the vineyards.
The Chardonnay and Pinot Noir varieties deserve special attention, simply because Joana is very fond of them and because, based on them, some of the great wines from the French region of Burgundy remain in her memory, some of which have become her favorites. She's trying to figure out how these varieties work on Heath. They are also the favorite varieties of the birds that force Joana to protect her treasure with nets.
In addition to the replanted property, she leased two old vineyards, each half a hectare. One of them with Fernão Pires planted in the 1930s with old clones in sandy soils of Charneca and another vineyard with Alicante Bouschet around 60 years old.
As the project is recent, things at the winery take place at Quinta da Lagoalva de Cima, where her friend Diogo Campilho has reserved a corner for her to bring her project to life, while she does not have her own winery.
The first Casal das Aires wines, from the 2018 harvest, were launched in 2019, where they already denounced the freshness and elegance that characterize the wines.
The wines from the 2019 harvest, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, would confirm the initial signs, now with greater precision on the path of elegance and sophistication. The Vinhas Velhas range also debuted, with great quality. A rich, fragrant and textured Fernão Pires, and an opulent Alicante Bouschet, lord of intense freshness and strong character.
They want to stand out in a new approach to Tejo wines, interpreting their terroir and grape varieties in an innovative way, but without losing the relationship with the past. They seem to be going in the right direction. A Tagus to discover!
