The Fernão Pires grape variety is one of Portugal's oldest white grape varieties, finding its terroir of excellence in the Lisboa and Tejo region, where it is a native grape variety, and under the name Maria Gomes, in Bairrada.
Today, it is one of the most common white grape varieties in Portugal, accounting for 6% of vineyard plantings. It has become popular for its strong aromatic identity and generous yields, good acidity, and medium-to-low acidity. It is a significant component of blends, contributing to the aromas and volume of a wine.
Being a very vigorous variety, productive in the vineyard, and quite flexible in the cellar, where it can be made into a white, used as the base for a sparkling wine, produced like a late harvest, or even distilled into brandy, all of which make it a producer's favorite.
And while in the past it was unpopular with consumers because white wine trends were different, today it has become a benchmark grape variety in the market because, in addition to its versatility, it evolves quite well in the bottle.
It's in the Tejo region that Fernão Pires holds the greatest prominence, with producers clearly focusing on top-of-the-line single varietals with excellent aging potential. In Bairrada it's used primarily in combination with Bical, Cercial, or Arinto varieties and can produce both great whites and sparkling wines.
Because the times call for whites, we selected the best sample of this great white variety in its terroir of excellence: Tejo, Lisboa, and Bairrada.
