Sparkling Tradition · Bairrada Espumante
Espumante da Bairrada
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Anadia, the small Bairrada town at the heart of this region, calls itself the 'Sparkling Wine Capital' of Portugal — the area produces roughly two-thirds of the country's espumante using the same traditional method as Champagne.
Espumante da Bairrada is a traditional-method sparkling wine made mainly from the local Bical and Maria Gomes grapes, grown on Bairrada's clay-limestone soils between the Mondego and Vouga rivers. It's crisp, high in acidity, with fine persistent bubbles, ranging from bone-dry to demi-sec.
Why it's made this way: Bairrada's cool, humid Atlantic climate and chalky clay soils proved ideal for sparkling wine after agronomist José Maria Tavares da Silva adapted the Champagne method here in 1890, making it Portugal's historic home of espumante ever since.
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