The António Madeira Branco wine is made from a mixture of all the white varieties in the António Madeira vineyards. The grapes come from vines aged 50 to 120 years, planted in plots with granite soils, at 450 metres above sea level.

The harvest is carried out manually, and when the grapes reach the winery, they go through a slow fermentation, which can last up to ten months, with their native yeasts in 500-litre stainless steel tanks. The resulting wine is racked to begin aging. 85% ages in stainless steel tanks and the rest is placed in French oak barrels.

This white wine from the Dão arrives with a sparkle: it exudes aromas of fresh herbs and wildflowers, with a hint of fennel and a salinity that transports you straight to a seaside table. On the palate, it is fresh and mineral, with a gentle acidity that keeps it lively and vibrant, like a conversation you don't want to end. A wine with character and delightful tension, perfect for surprising and making you raise an eyebrow with a smile.

• Leader of the natural wine movement in the Dao
• Ancient biodynamically farmed vines

96 JAMES SUCKLING

Always exceptional, showing stone fruit, peaches and an austere mineral thread. The medium-bodied palate is straight, saline and flavorful, with subtle phenolic texture adding grip. Marked by brightness and tension, this is both delicious and precise, benefiting greatly from some air as it develops in the glass. A blend of cerceal, encruzado, bical, siria, fernao pires and other varieties. Approximately 50- to 100-year-old vines. Malolactic fermentation. From biodynamically grown grapes. Drink now. - Jacobo García Andrade, Senior Editor

 94+ WINE ADVOCATE

The old-vine white 2023 Vinhas Velhas Branco keeps the quality level of the exceptional 2021 I tasted last year. Like it, this was produced with the fruit from 15 small plots of old vines between 50 and 130 years of age and planted with a myriad of old varieties—Síria, Bical, Fernão Pires, Encruzado, Arinto, Cerceal and Malvasia Fina—on slopes with granite soils that they work biodynamically, but the wine is not certified. It's inspired by the natural vinification of some Burgundy wines and fermented with indigenous yeasts and matured in 500-liter barrels for 12 months and the next winter in stainless steel. It displays a bright and deep golden color and a nuanced and complex nose, with notes of wildflowers and herbs, vibrant and expressive. It has good ripeness and 13.2% alcohol, with a pH of 3.51 and 5.45 grams of acidity. It has great energy and is nuanced, complex and elegant with a tasty palate and a saline and faintly bitter finish. 6,800 bottles produced. It was bottled in June 2025.