Joana Maçanita was recruited to make wine by her brother Antonio while studying animal science at university. She had no background in winemaking, no family history – she didn’t even drink wine. She was simply the only person Antonio could fully trust to help him reinterpret the wines of Fitapreta, in southern Portugal’s Alentejo region. As a young winemaker in an old place with a pretty hard-boiled sense of how farming and winemaking were done, Antonio needed a collaborator to help him. Despite the lack of preparation, Joana was the right choice. Their first vintage together, they won a prestigious award for their wine, and Joana was hooked. She changed her degree and began working full time with her brother, and together they founded Maçitana Vinhos. Antonio is based primarily in Alentejo, and Joana has moved to Porto to be close to the Douro Valley.

Maçanita Vinhos are farmed organically. Joana has demanded the highest quality fruit from her growers, and part of that is helping them, convincing them, persuading them to convert to organics. In a region where terraced vineyards are already difficult to work and where tractors fear to tread, there is a lot of resistance to this sort of change, especially where the established Port industry gives growers every incentive to farm the safer, more conventional way. Joana also works with very little intervention in the winery. Very little sulfur, no added yeast beyond the occasional pied de cuve drawn from her own fermentations, and no fining or filtration that would take away from the transparent character of the wine, vineyard, and vintage.

The Vineyard
An organically farmed site at 700 meters in the Baixo Corgo section of the Douro closest to the ocean and the coolest, rainiest quarter of the Douro valley, For white wines, Joana seeks out slate sites at high elevation like this one that do best to preserve the acidity and freshness she’s generally looking for. For this wine, she uses an old vine blend of 70% Viosinho, 20% Códega do Larinho, and 10% Gouveio. By ancient tradition, almost all Douro vineyards are planted with a wide mixture of grape varieties. Joana works with 30 different grapes among her fifteen vineyard sources. 

The Wine
Nose of hay and crushed pear and apple, honeycomb and beeswax. Linden blossom and a touch of graham. Palate is medium bodied, with bright acidity, fresh lemon fruit and lime leaf, and a leesy quality that lingers. ABV 12.5%