Collection: Romano Cunha

In and around these lands the tradition is millenary, there is an ancient wine history, behind these hills and mountains almost kept as a secret by those who have always existed.

Nowadays, this kind of project, such as that of Romano Cunha, makes the ear, nose and mouth stick to what there is done in terms of wine matters. And the reasons are countless. One of them is the irreproducible identity of the wines. Unrepeatable due to the severe climate, the harsh winter and the heat of the summer, marked by the altitude and protection of the Atlantic effects by the hills, and an almost untouchable wine heritage. Romano Cunha is part of this universe, and of the new and the good that is done there.

From all the way up in Chaves, where Mário Romano Cunha grew up and lived, his roots fed the desire that made him study and obtain agricultural training, and it was on the other end of the Trás-os-Montes region, in the municipality of Mirandela “…burned by a sun of fire or a cold snow ”, in the words of the poet Miguel Torga, also from these origins, that the wine project was born, after the family inherited and bought some properties, which today combine two vineyards in a total of 13 hectares. As usual in these parts, vineyard and wine were just another crop, among other crops. To drink the wine, the farmer would have to produce it, as isolation and communication difficulties dictated this routine. From the little profitable purpose of placing the grapes in the cooperative and the impractical bulk business with some of the youngest brothers, of unfeasible profitability, the inevitable creation and bottling of their own brand started to take shape and gained strength.

And so, it happened. Taking advantage of the reconverted vineyard, also having at its disposal an 80 years old vineyard, in which Tinta Amarela and Bastardo abounded, meaning, no shortage of quality raw material. Furthermore, when the vineyard was converted, he received some help from the capable hands of Daniel Perez, brother of the famous Spanish winemaker Raul Perez. The vineyard was also designed to be mechanized, including laser alignment techniques. Daniel and Raul helped in the viticulture and the winery, providing crucial support, in the small and large details that prove to make the difference, including the management of the grape's cold until its final stages. The ingredients were lined up for everything to go well!

And just like that, the 2009 harvest, the first one, was out there. It could only work out well! From this unorthodox team, nothing else could be expected. Living by the motto that the wines need to be out at this right point in time, the Conceptual contract between Mário Romano Cunha and the great author of wines that Raul Perez is.

Do not expect anything less than wines with little aromatic chatter or trivial nature. On the contrary, these are wines with a parallel in fiber and tempera from Trás-os-Montes. Pointing to the maximum of quality, the yields are very low, wines molded by the granitic soils at 400 and 500 meters of altitude, no herbicides, very few sizes on the ground, very few treatments, a little sulfur, here and there, as Mário Cunha says while comparing to the famous neighboring region, “while in the Douro they do eight or nine treatments, here we do one as a precaution”. It is not by chance that this region is the one with the highest biological production in the country.

Romano Cunha are wines to know, distinct, with some cult, with reduced productions, not to miss out for those who enjoy and appreciate this vague of quality that blows behind the mountains.