Wine Dinner with Paulo Laureano

At Paulo Laureano Wines, the philosophy is to craft wines exclusively from Portuguese grape varieties, in choice terroirs across the Alentejo.

It was 1998 when he founded Paulo Laureano Vinus with his family. Many harvests and over two decades of fine wines later, Paulo Laureano, one of Portugal’s great independent producers and regarded as one of the country’s most respected winemakers, has now joined forces with Grupo PARRAS, one of the leading national players in the sector.

The Paulo Laureano brand has a new visual identity that conveys the ideas and values of the brand to the company.

“What I think about labels is very simple — ‘Less is More’. Labels that are more discreet, more understated, which say a lot about who I am,” says Paulo Laureano.

It is at Monte Novo da Lisboa, deep in Vidigueira, on a 110-hectare vineyard estate, that Paulo Laureano’s wines are produced.

We are in the Alentejo, but this is a different Alentejo. This is the Alentejo of Vidigueira, with one of the oldest geological formations in the country, gentle slopes and black schist soil (extremely hard) that lends the wines a pronounced minerality and excellent freshness.

The marked thermal range, with daytime temperatures reaching 45ºC and night-time lows no higher than 12ºC, also helps, as it leads to slower ripening. The result: greater concentration, more colour and better acidity — essential to the balance of the wines.