Terras de Sicó · Beira Atlântico
Where the sea left its shells.
The vines are divided across five parcels, half a hectare to one hectare each, in the parishes of Lamas, in Miranda do Corvo, and Vila Seca e Bendafé, in Condeixa-a-Nova. Between 150 and 250 metres of altitude.
01
The soil
Clay-limestone, with schist outcrops and, everywhere, fossilised shells from when this landscape lay underwater. That limestone is what puts the chalk and the salt in the wines, and neither ever quite leaves them.
02
The climate
Mediterranean with Atlantic influence. The Serra de Sicó shelters the vineyards from ocean winds. Mornings bring mist, and nights cool sharply after warm days. That daily swing keeps the acidity up and the alcohol down.
03
The varieties
Baga and Fernão Pires dominate, accompanied by more than ten indigenous varieties planted intermingled: Bastardo, Rufete, Trincadeira, Grand Noir, Bical, Cerceal, Dona Branca, Rabo de Ovelha, and several still unidentified. Grand Noir most likely arrived in the nineteenth century, with the railway works.
04
The work
Everything by hand. The vines are too old and planted too irregularly to accept machines. No herbicides are used. Gaps are replanted by massal selection from the vineyards themselves, so as not to lose the genetic heritage already there.
05
In the cellar
Spontaneous fermentations with indigenous yeasts, often with whole stems, in lagar. Ageing in cement and in used French oak from Bordeaux and Burgundy houses. Sulphur kept to a minimum, and always late.
06
The region
Terras de Sicó is a sub-region of the Beira Atlântico geographical indication, spread across parts of six municipalities south of Coimbra. It never saw enough commercial expansion to justify pulling up and replanting. It owes its old vines to that bad luck.