PRODUCERS
Casal Figueira
In 1999, Marta Soares left behind the bustling life in Lisboa in search of a quiet, rural studio to work on her art projects. She ended up at Antonio Carvalho's estate and no doubt at the time could never have imagined that 10 years later she would be adding a career as a winemaker.
Marta discovered a whole new life at Casal Figueira, embodied by Antonio, who, after studying oenology in France, realised his dream in 1990. On the family estate, he planted a 15ha vineyard. It became a mix of local grape varieties (Fernão Pires and Arinto) and varieties Antonio had come to appreciate in France (Marsanne, Roussanne, Syrah). He worked his vineyard according to the principles of biodynamics, making him an innovator in Portugal. What distinguished Antonio above all, however, was his total dedication. He was one with his vines and dedicated every day from morning to night to taking care of them. Must it be said that he thus produced wines with extraordinary personality.
Marta fell in love with Antonio and his life's work. She decided to shelve her plans to move to New York as a function of her artistic career and support Antonio in his wine project. Unfortunately, the time was not right for the outspoken, quirky wines that Casal Figueira marketed, and in 2003 they filed for bankruptcy out of necessity . They were able to pick up where they left off a year later, but eventually the family estate had to be sold in 2007 to pay off outstanding debts.
Even then, Antonio and Marta were not ready to put away their dream and started looking in the region for old vineyards with local grape varieties. They were convinced that this was essential: making the connection with the local area, recognizing the qualities of things around them and putting their work at it's service.
So they ended up on the northern flank of the Serra do Montejunto where they found about four small plots planted with the local white grape Vital. They managed to convince the owners to work the vineyards with them from now on and sell them the grapes at a good price. A little further south, toward Lisboa, they found a friend willing to let them also harvest a plot with the interesting blue grape Castelão.
Unfortunately, disaster struck. During the 2009 harvest, Antonio's heart gave out while crushing the Castelão grapes and he died at the age of 43. Marta did not hesitate for a second and continued the harvest, helped by befriended winemakers.
She did not finish the red wine, but she did accomplish the first white wine with the Vital grape. She named it after Antonio.
The result was extraordinary. 2009 was by no means an easy year. A hot summer throughout Portugal led to white wines without much excess acidity. However, there was no sign of this in Marta's wine. Her Vital might give fresher and more elegant results in more recent, cooler years, but even in 2009 the wine radiated a lot of energy.
Thus, by chance, Marta's enormous talent for making wine surfaced and she soon found herself held in her hands by a bevy of loyal fans. Meanwhile, she single-handedly combines raising her two children with her job as an art school teacher, also completed a doctoral thesis and produces her wine year after year, on a small scale but with stunning quality in the bottle.
In 2013, she also decided to continue Antonio's unfinished red wine project. She produced 1,000 liters of extremely pure Castelão, fresh, light-bodied and brimming with energy. The wine was aptly named Casal Figueira 'Adiado,' the adjourned. To underline her regained urge to live life to the fullest, she also subtitled it 'Life on the Ocean Wave'.
Today, she delivers extremely captivating white and red wines year after year. To be discovered!
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