Description

João Pato, AKA Duckman, is a made-up character masking as an homage to a long-gone relative. In reality, the person behind the mask is Luis Pato’s 2nd daughter, Mariana. If you are confused, that’s part of the fun of Duckman.
Making wines in the shadow of her famous father, Luis Pato, and equally well-regarded older sister Filipa Pato, Mariana sought to create her own distinct identity for Bairrada wines by breaking every imaginable stereotype and creating labels as artistically personal as the wines inside. The labels are beyond whimsical and the Duckman character at times seems inscrutable and other-worldly.
The wines inside are very real indeed. Finely wrought, totally natural renditions of Bairrada wines are what is in the bottle. Bairrada is a coastal region, about 2 hours north of Lisbon, and is marked by chalky/sandy soils, the ubiquitous red grape Baga, as well as white grapes Maria Gomes (Fernão Pires), Bical, and Cerceal.
This wine hails from 3 hectares of 20-year-old vines planted in chalky-clay and sandy soils. Grapes are hand-harvested, then de-stemmed before spontaneous fermentation takes place in chestnut and French oak using ambient yeasts for three weeks with temperature control. The wine then spends six months on lees with stirring and then in aged casks (50%) and stainless steel (50%) for six months.