Our Wines

In the preparation of our wines we take advantage of the fact that they are aged in three distinct warehouses, all with different climatic characteristics and different expositions to the sun. This fact enables us to obtain an enormous variety of wines aged by the canteiro method. All of these characteristics contribute to the Barbeito's unique style: the long and fresh acidity after taste.

Warehouse C is located in Câmara de Lobos where the weather conditions allow us to have a more gentle wine with less acidity and colour. These wines however, need a longer period of aging. In this warehouse the annual evaporation is in average 3%. Here we have casks with capacities between 300 and 700 liters.

The second warehouse (A) is the biggest and is located on our family's property in Funchal. Of all warehouses it is the one that is more exposed to the sun. Here annual evaporations can reach up to 5%. which means that within a short period of time we obtain wines which are very concentrated in acidity, sugar and colour. Here we have casks with capacities between 350 and 2.000 liters.

Our third warehouse (B) is located in our winery. Here the aging conditons are quite different due to the winery being a two story building. The aging process in this warehouse is done in 2 stages: during the first 5 to 7 years the wines are aged in 620 liter casks stored on the 1st floor of the building where the evaporation level is approximately 5% per year, allowing us to obtain strong wines in colour, acidity and sugar. After those first years of maturation when transferred to the lower floor and into larger casks, the evolution of the wine is stopped because on the ground floor the annual evaporation is only around 2 to 3%. Here the temperatures are lower and constant during the whole year. This way, the aging is gentler and consequently the colour, acidity and sugars of the wines are maintained on a steady level originating well balanced wines.

SINGLE HARVEST

Our aim with this Barbeito Single Harvest was to create a medium-dry Madeira of great purity and elegance, made from the Tinta Negra Mole grape. We set out to demonstrate that wines made from this grape and aged by the traditional canteiro method can be very distinct. These wines are the result of a careful selection of grapes from vines of the north and south part of the island. After aging we select the best wines from our casks and bottle only a limited quantity.

SINGLE CASK

Every now and again, when tasting our wines aged in cask, we come across something outstanding which stands alone, and which no input of the blender's art can improve upon. These rare casks are selected and isolated, during a year or two and depending on their natural maturation conditions we decide upon the ideal time to bottle them. These single casks, as well as single vintages, often come from a single vineyard. Production is normally between 500 and 1200 bottles of 500ml, each individually numbered.

FRASQUEIRA

From the "family" of special bottlings, the Frasqueiras are the ones that spend the longest time in cask: 20 years minimum. They have a distinct style, being more full-bodied, with more evolved flavours and aromas result of the combination of evaporation and natural caramelisation consequence of its long aging. Depending on the variety of grape used, they will vary in sweetness, the driest being Sercial, followed by Verdelho, Boal and the richest being Malvasia. They represent some of Barbeito's "treasures" passed down from generation to generation and their rarity dictates that each frasqueira rarely exceeds a few hundred bottles.