Page 9 - Code de Vino, #17/23, a/w 2018

8 Wine Club Code de Vino #17 Code de Vino #17 Rui Cunha of Secret Spot Wines: "Winemaking is like painting" 9
— What is the story of creating and developing Secret Spot — Where are the vineyards located? What is the total area? — Please tell us about the work in vineyards and work
Wines? How is the terroir special? of Mr Gonçalo Sousa Lopes. What contribution does
he bring to Secret Spot Wines?
— I started working as a consultant since 1995. First in the Douro — We source fruit from many different areas in the Douro valley,
and Vinhos Verde Region, and later in Trás-os-Montes, Alentejo and according to the style of wines we produce. For our whites we — As I told you we don't have any vineyards. We want to feel free
Colares. Gonçalo Sousa Lopes joined me later and was my partner concentrate our selves in the higher parts of the region (altitude to explore all the Douro Valley. Gonçalo's work is very important in the
for the viticulture. In 2004 we had the possibility of renting a winery between 450 to 600 meters). For example our Moscatel Galego way that he oversees all the work that's being done in the vineyards
in Favaios, and the dream of producing our own wine came truth… Blanco grapes are sourced from Favaios, the "Grand Cru" terroir by all the different growers, exchanges opinions and guides them
for growing this grape. Our reds come from grapes closer to the river in the way we want our grapes to be treated. Being constantly on the
Douro, where the soils are poorer, have more schist and it’s much road he is able to discover new vineyards, meet new growers and
— Who is the founder and owner of the company? hotter for having a more "fuller" maturation. In total we source fruit is capable of sourcing more fruit. When harvest time arrives, our team
from 28 ha. starts to visit each vineyard once a week, to check the developing
— We are 2 partners: Gonçalo Sousa Lopes (viticulture) & Rui Cunha of the maturity. With all the information that Gonçalo has gathered
(winemaking) The terroir in the Douro is very special. We are talking about the during the viticulture year we’re well "equipped" to start the process
biggest schist “island” in the world, the bigger man build region in the of winemaking.
world (the terraces were hand build. The modern ones of course with
the help of bulldozers) and the oldest demarked and regulated wine At the end, we know our grapes so well as they were ours.
region in the world. We have a main river, the Douro, that crosses the That’s our aim!
valley and many side rivers. Different altitudes, expositions, types of
schist, etc. — all this strengthens the effect of different microterroirs,
and all that we considered when creating our wines.

— What grape varieties do you use?
— We work 100% with native Portuguese wine varieties grown in the
Douro valley. For our whites we work with Moscatel Galego Branco,
Viosinho, Gouveio, Malvasia Fina and Rabigato. For our reds (and
rosé) Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinto Cão, Tinta
Barroca. We focus also on old vineyards, and there as you know
we work with field blends. In some vineyards you can find up
to 40 different varieties.

Rui Cunha and Gonçalo Sousa Lopes

— What is the company's philosophy?
— The company is called Secret Spot Wines, handcrafted wines — Which wines do you consider as the company's best?
from the Douro Valley. First we source fruit from different spots all
over the Douro Valley. Second we are like "tailors" that handcraft each — It's a very difficult question to ask… (as if you was asking me,
wine. By applying "less is more" during the winemaking and aging which of my sons I like the most…) for me all our wines are
but looking very carefully at every little detail we arrive to produce of exceptional quality for their price range. But I'm particular proud
wines that show the regions characteristics with elegance, of the single variety Lacrau Moscatel Galego Branco, our Crooked
finesse and coherence. Vines Red (a tribute to the old vineyards of the valley) that is a blend
of 21 different old vineyards and our icon wine the Secret Spot that
is a single vineyard bottling. To show the different terroirs from
the valley we choose every year a different one…

I can't forget to mention our Secret Spot Moscatel do Douro
40 years. The first, and until now, the only Moscatel do Douro
being produced with this category. Ideal for paring with a nice cigar.

— Which vintages are the best for Secret Spot Wines?
— The region blessed us with a couple of excellent vintages like
2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013. Even 2012, which was when
it was released, not so well ranked by the critics is developing with
elegance and showing today much more expressive and giving much
more drinking pleasure than the highly rated 2011 that still needs
a few more years of bottle maturation.