2020 O Tinto Perfeito O Clarete, Portugal

From the cellar of the non-interventionist winemaker, Mateus Nicolau de Almeida.

Mateus Nicolau de Almeida comes from a clan of winegrowers, making wines from several regions of Portugal under a few different labels but always committed to organic viticulture, even embracing biodynamic practices in many of the vineyards. Believers in terroir the wines are native fermented and bottled with additives save a tiny tiny sulfites.

Claret, and its many spelling variations, refer to a light red or even deep ros style of wine that was popularized centuries ago in England, sourced from the vineyards of Bordeaux which at the time was under the same crown. While Bordeaux holds, quite literally, a monopoly on the name Claret, the style was actually fairly widespread with many historical examples from Iberia and Italy having been attested to.