In an effort to honour a grape variety that "is no longer unloved" and has even become quite trendy, seven Bairrada’s Region growers are working together to create a sparkling berry wine, which should be ready by Christmas 2029. As stated by the producer Luís Pato, part of Baga Friend’s association, “We are making a sparkling berry wine, which is becoming more refined with age”.

“Now we are evolving to another level, with a different product, associated with the Bairrada Region, which is sparkling wine, but with the berry variety. We continue to focus on the berry variety, now with a rosé sparkling wine, to which each person contributed around 300 liters,” Luís Pato revealed, adding that “It will be bottled now, and we should have between 2,500 and 3,000 bottles of sparkling wine with berries, which will be ready in five years. The berry needs time to become noble and unusual, top in the world”.


As a token of their friendship, these producers had previously collaborated to create a red berry wine in 2011 and 2015, contributing about 250 litres apiece. Luís, acknowledged to the Lusa the value that Baga Friends have placed on a grape variety that has sparked attention both domestically and internationally, "proving that it is fashionable." As he explains, “It’s a great variety, which is being worked on well, demonstrating that it can be something fantastic”.


The berry variety is the seventh most popular red variety used in wine production in Portugal, accounting for 4 percent of the country's planted area. With almost 3,500 hectares, Bairrada is the region with the largest weight among the more than 8,000 hectares planted nationwide. As the producer defends “We are recovering the greatness of this variety, which is complicated and unloved. The wines produced have improved a lot, are authentic and highly sought after for export: foreigners taste it and say that it is a different wine and that it has personality”.