It is from centuries-old vines, almost archaic, yet full of the wisdom of generations, that José Domingues produces his wines. In a way, its the isolation of this place that has allowed to preserve the vines. Here, some of them throw their long trunks over the roofs of old buildings, and their hight and alien shapes, which without foliage create a scenario that seems taken straight from "Jurassic Park".
In this place you feel the "soul", an essence or vibe so strong that it is not possible to ignore when tasting the Terrunho d'Alma wines, the project that José Domingues created in 2017.
Only a few know how to reach this "lost corner" in northern Portugal. We are in Merufe, on the slopes of the Mouro river, one of the many rivers in the sub-region of Monção and Melgaço. José certainly knows every inch of this land. This is where he used to play growing up, with his brother. These centenary vineyards, planted in truly tiny "micro terroirs" with varying degrees of inclinations and often hidden by trees, were their favorite playground.
Jose became an oenologist because even though his family made wine every year, sometimes they were good, sometime not so much, and he wanted to understand why.
This led him to study "Agro-Food Engineering" in Santarém, where he had his first professional experiences. He worked with Anselmo Mendes, an extremely well known winemaker today, but who at that time was trying to revolutionize the region. Jose was part of the Provam team, worked at Soalheiro and integrated other projects in Minho and Galicia.
Terrunho d'Alma was created by the insistence of friends and colleagues to move forward with a project under his own name.
The meandering landscape of the steep valley of the Mouro river, with 250 meters of altitude, is high enough to show us in every turn of the narrow road a puzzle of small villages, the distinctive patchwork of the agricultural lands, and the forest delimiting them. Each micro-property seem to have vines and vegetables, obviously a very traditional subsistence economy which also might explain why some older grape varieties have been preserved here. Every corner seems like a postcard with countless stories.
We reach a point where the road is too narrow for cars, so we continue by foot. Sometimes we feel a breath of heat on our faces, yet minutes later a cool breeze lowers the temperature. Jose says with a smile "what you are feeling legitimizes the concept of microclimates."
We stop at a tiny vineyard that José planted recently mostly with Alvarinho. All the work is done by hand, much of the time performed during his time "off" on weekends. We then continue to another half-moon-shaped vineyard on his grandmother's land, where José is recovering a red grape variety that the locals call Picopul from which traditional Pical wine ("Jeropiga" in Portuguese) was made. Piquepoul, Picpoul, or Picapoll is a variety of winegrape grown primarily in the Rhone Valley and Languedoc regions of France. "We don't know who brought it, from where, or why", says José.
We are warned not to step on wild strawberries hidden by vegetation. We couldn't see any, but José seemed to have a special x-ray vision. We picked several and eat them on the spot; tiny, super acid, delicious.
We then arrive at that very special corner of old vines, with a magnificent traditional pergola, planted on a steep slope, just a few meters from the river. We literally have to hold on to the vines to keep our balance while walking. It was that steep!
From these centuries-old vines come, apart from a wonderful sparkling wine and an excellent Alvarinho, a red wine capable of converting those who do not like "vinho verde tinto" or those who have not even tried because of its reputation.
In these vineyards there is a bit of everything: Tinturão Francês, Negrão, Cainho, Vinhão, Borraçal, Brancelho, Verdelho Feijão, Alvarelhão, Pedral, Pical-pôlho (Pical), and others. That alone is worth a visit.
This is a different red. With less extraction and a more accentuated aromatic freshness José's red brings back the authentic, and glorious, style of the "Monção reds" which believe it or not, centuries ago were considered as very "elegant."
Some of these vines are pé franco (ungrafted). José doesn't know if it was his grandfather, or someone before him, who planted them. Some of them were multiplied by plunging, others grafted onto rootstocks. The traditional open color of the "reds of Monção" was due to some white grapes mixed in the field blend, or to the fact that a plant could have two different varieties, the result of "homemade" grafting.
People "used to plant what they liked" and it all went together in the final blend.
The Terrunho d'Alma project includes another wine, the Terrunho D'Alma "Notas Soltas" Loureiro 2021, in this case from the Lima valley, a sub-region south of Monção and Melgaço. Made from a 70-year-old vineyard, from old clones that are not very productive, resulting in a low-alcohol content. The vineyard is located on a slope with different soils but with a majority of schist. This is a Loureiro with a modest aroma, light but assertive, and with ageing capacity.
José and his "Terrunho" deliver soul and quality, preserve a very valuable heritage, and move the needle on this fantastic region's wine revolution.
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