Mateus Nicolau de Almeida

Mateus Nicolau de Almeida and his wife, Teresa Ameztoy, began their organic/biodynamic/natural wine project in 2015. Organically farmed and certified, their wines reflect the attributes of a combination of vineyards in the different subregions of Douro and a multitude of indigenous grape varieties. The Trans-Douro Express are three “climate” reds from roughly ten different vineyards that demonstrate what each subregion has to offer: Baixo Corgo in the west is the coldest and wettest, on the far east, on the border of Spain, is Douro Superior, the driest and warmest, while in the center is Cima Corgo, a climatic balance of the two extremes. Each of these wines illustrates the differences in climate, which, of course, is determined by the variety of grapes suitable for each area. Eremitas are three white wines from the Douro Superior and express three different schist-based terroirs. Made only in particular years, the Curral Teles—their “human wines,” are their most experimental, tinkered with in the cellar (including one wine aged inside a granite block!) to discover new gateways to different expressions and nuances. There are also two stellar (but in very low supply), traditionally crafted Port wines, Lágrima (white Port) and Ruby Seco. The wines are often lightly filtered (though the whites that don’t go through malolactic are sterile filtered) and they are rarely fined.