Saravá, innovative low-intervention wines from Vinho Verde and Douro, Portugal
Website: https://www.galactic.wine/
Miguel Viseu is the winemaker at low-intervention wine producer Aphros in Vinho Verde, but he also has his own project with his partner Leli, called Saravá. They began this in 2018 with a couple of wines made at home. In 2019 they grew the project and moved to a proper cellar, and since then the project has continued to expand. Initially it focused solely on Vinho Verde, but now it has grown to include some wines from Douro.
Miguel grew up in the Douro, and Leli (Emanuelle Dalla Costa) grew up in the south of Brazil and worked in NGO jobs around the world. Miguel has made wine in many countries, including some time in Brazil with Sven Bruchfield.
The approach is natural with the only addition being a small addition of sulfites prior to bottling. The wines are bottled under the name Saravá, but the company is called Galactic Wine.
THE WINES
Saravá Loureiro 2023 Vinho Verde, Portugal
10.5% alcohol. Normally there’s some maceration here but there was big mildew pressure in 2023 and it rained during harvest. Fermented in stainless steel then goes to 300 litre chestnut barrels. Lovely aromatics. Supple, fresh, stony and bright with good energy. Taut and mineral with amazing precision and nice texture. 93/100
Saravá Skin Contact 2023 Vinho Verde, Portugal
25% Trajadura, 75% Loureiro, five months on skins with 5-10% whole cluster, then goes to chestnut barrels and tinajas. Full golden colour. Powerful and complex with good structure to the pear and lime fruit. Nice structure here with a core of lemony fruit and some salty detail. This has real beauty to it. 95/100
Saravá FML 2024 Vinho Verde, Portugal
30% Trajadura, 70% Loureiro, no added sulfites. The wine does malolactic in bottle: initially the MLF is blocked by low temperature, and the wine is bottled with a bit of wine from a barrel doing malolactic. This has gentle fizziness, and it’s fresh, lively and bright with good structure. Linear and pure, showing nice balance. 94/100
Saravá Rosé 2024 Vinho Verde, Portugal
11% alcohol. This is made by whole bunch infusion of red grapes in Loureiro must. When the fermentation starts the gas extracts some of the colour. Vivid pink/red in colour. Juicy with vivid lemony fruit and some cherries. Lovely focus and great acidity. 93/100
Saravá Tinto Espadeiro 2023 Vinho Verde, Portugal
10.5% alcohol. This is a lighter-style red fermented in open stainless steel tanks, with light extraction. Slightly faded red colour. Bright with sour cherry and raspberry fruit as well as some tannic grip, and keen acidity. Slightly saline and very expressive. 92/100
Saravá Saravô 2023 Douro, Portugal
12.5% alcohol. This is from a 7 hectare vineyard with 80 year old vines, planted by his grandfather in Valdigem, in the transition region between schist and granite. Textural and fine with lovely weight, and lovely fine, spicy, detailed crystalline citrus fruit, as well as some pear. Nice harmony here. Ripe but focused. 93/100
