Menina d'Uva - Ciste

It was about time we were offering the amazing natural wines of Portugal and this wine signals that start. Menina d’Uva is a small winery located in Uva, a remote village in the quiet and desolate countryside of the Northeast of Portugal. Female winemaker Aline Domingues moved from Paris to this area from which her parents had emigrated to Paris to give their children better opportunities.

A controversial move within the family but one that we wholeheartedly support: Aline clearly is a talented winemaker crafting beautifully pure wines.

Made from 70% red grapes (including Bastardo, known in the Jura as Trousseau) and 30% white grapes including Malvasia and white Bastardo. It’s still a hearthy red that’s crispy and refreshing; cherries, pomegranate with a beautiful smell of the forest. Highly recommended.

As Aline writes on the label: "Uva is a village nestled between the mountains, surrounded by dovecotes and, once, many vineyards. This wine comes from a few remaining plots of old vines. Wine made with native varieties of red and white grapes. Natural viticulture and fermentation, low sulfites added."