Hugo Mendes Pitau Clarete

Lightish crimson with just a few bubbles of CO2 clinging to the glass. Inviting aroma of fresh red and dark-red fruits, mostly cherry and raspberry, with a stemmy freshness even though the grapes are destemmed (perhaps some early-picked fruit). Mouth-watering and delicious on the palate. Full of life and joy. Coincidentally I shared a bottle of this wine with my wife and some friends a couple of days ago and it went with just about everything on the Bar Douro menu. Honest, fragrant, unassuming but surprisingly long. (Julia Harding MW) 16.5 points; JancisRobinson.com

Tinta Roriz, Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca.

All grapes were picked at the same time. 'The decision was based on equilibrium, like the old field blends', writes Mendes. The grapes were destemmed before starting fermentation with ambient yeasts in a closed tank. Very short maceration. It finished fermentation in inox without temperature control. Mendes writes, 'We just passed over three times to release the wine from gas and lees that might have reduced it apart from the freshness and fruit expression we are looking to get. No stabilisation before bottling. This wine can create natural tartaric crystals if you cool it for some time and we believe you’ll love the wine even more.' Intended to be a simple, fresh wine to be sold in greater volume than most of his wines and at a lower price than his other reds (€10 in Portugal). 10,500 bottles. The name is taken from his family's nickname in their home town of Ribeira de Santarém. TA 5.2 g/l, pH 3.5.

Serve lightly chilled 10-14°C