# Raiz Branco (2023)

- **Producer:** Tiago Teles
- **Colour:** orange
- **Type:** still
- **Grapes:** Loureiro
- **Region:** Vinho Verde, Portugal
- **Style:** Natural
- **Alcohol:** 11.5%
- **Average price:** €19
- **Vegan:** Yes
- **Contains sulphites:** Yes
- **When to drink:** Now or Later
- **Serving temperature:** 10–12 °C
- **Aromas & flavours:** orange, peach, herbaceous, fennel, marmalade

## About this wine

Raiz Branco is produced by Tiago Teles, a former telecommunications engineer and prominent Portuguese wine critic who established his minimal-intervention winemaking project in 2009. The wine originates from 18-year-old vines grown on high-elevation granitic soils at Quinta da Cancela in Arcos de Valdevez, within Portugal's northern Vinho Verde region. Influenced heavily by the cool Atlantic climate, the project emphasizes sustainable viticulture, natural fermentations, and a direct expression of coastal maritime terroir. The name 'Raiz' translates to 'Root' in Portuguese, reflecting the producer's philosophy of returning to fundamental winemaking practices and native land.

## Interesting facts

- Tiago Teles worked for years as an influential wine critic and editor before founding his own estate in 2009.
- 'Raiz' means 'Root' in Portuguese, honoring native grape varieties, granite soils, and traditional maritime roots.
- The wine undergoes a full six months of continuous skin maceration in concrete vats to gain structure without oak influence.

## Food pairing

The extended skin contact endows this dry orange wine with subtle tactile tannins and vibrant acidity that cut through oily seafood, rich pork dishes, and savory salt cod. Its coastal salinity and textured mouthfeel provide an exceptional bridge to complex fermented flavors and cured sheep cheeses without being overwhelmed.

## Wine making process

Hand-harvested in small crates from organic granitic vineyard plots, the grapes undergo 100% spontaneous fermentation with wild indigenous yeasts in 15-hectoliter concrete vats. The winemaking features prolonged skin contact, remaining on grape skins for six months in concrete tanks. Following full malolactic fermentation, the wine is pressed and aged for an additional five months in concrete vats and concrete eggs without any oak exposure. It is bottled unfined and unfiltered with minimal total sulfur additions (< 20 mg/L).