A potted history.
Filipe de Vasconcellos wants to change people’s perceptions of the Algarve’s wines. Part of his mission is to rescue ancient Algarve grapes grown at the property he inherited from his mother, who resisted advice to plant better known international varieties. Filipe has followed her lead and is planting more vines alongside those his grandparents planted more than 60 years ago at the farm outside Lagoa, a short distance from the Atlantic Ocean. The wines are idiosyncratically authentic, championing centuries-old styles like palhete and clarete, and made by winemaker Joana Maçanita.