Luís Pato Vinha Pan Bairrada Baga

Bairrada, Portugal

The most internationally recognized serious Baga — Luís Pato's Vinha Pan from Atlantic coastal clay soils, aged in large Portuguese oak. Extraordinary dark cherry, blackberry, iron mineral, dried herbs, leather, and the characteristic Baga tannin that softens over 10+ years into extraordinary complexity. The wine that proved Baga deserves to be spoken of alongside the world's great age-worthy red varieties. Portugal's most distinctively indigenous red.

Pairing intelligence

• main: The most famous food-wine pairing in Portugal — Bairrada's suckling pig and its Baga wine; the wine's iron tannin and dark cherry cuts through the pig's extraordinary crackled fat; orange mirrors the wine's acidity; cumin bridges the herbal complexity
• main: The Centre-North's mountain preparation and its Baga wine — old goat's intense flavour is bridged by the wine's dark cherry and iron mineral; the wine appears in the braising liquid; paprika bridges the wine's spice