Textura is the Portuguese word for “texture”. The winery’s founder and owner, Marcelo Araujo wants his wines to be about their textures and feel and importantly how it makes us feel to drink them. Marcelo purposefully chose the Dão region because of its attractive combination of climate and geographic features offering optimal grape growing conditions. Nestled against Portugal’s tallest inland mountain region, the Serra da Estrela, the Dão is quickly becoming a magnet for some of Portugal’s best winemakers as the prime location for showcasing several of the country’s prominent varietals. Marcelo and his family made significant investments in understanding their land and building their winery (fit into the original location of a textile factory) to properly allow for organic farming and the vinification of their parcels separately.

Although the overall winemaking is directed by Luis Seabra, Marcelo has gathered a critical mass of imagination in the cellar. Mariana Vala Salvador leads the team as assistant to Luis. Marcelo himself has finished courses in Oenology too. The approach is minimalist and ensuring the wines are not manipulated but reflect what the terroir intended. The team is young, inspired and visionary.

The cellar is housed in a reclaimed concrete industrial structure, now insulated and fully functional. It appears historic in it’s outdoor setting but opens to a pristine atelier that is entirely modern. Inside resides fermenting vessels, widely ranging in size, material and intention. The 2nd tier of aging barrels (of mixed sizes) has only just begun (This whole project kicked off in 2018!). This allows the full tool box to explore potential as the estate looks to sculpt and define the wines.

After sourcing for existing vineyards, in a region of small growers, 19 ha of vineyards aged between 18 and 50 years were gathered in 7 different plots.

*Vila Nova de Tazem (Serra da Estrela)* poor granite soils at altitudes between 480 and 550m, cool nights, fresher wines

*Encoberta and Matela (Penalva do Castelo)* a vineyard planted in 1992 at 460m-500m in more fertile, clay-granitic soils, wines with greater aromatic exuberance

Textura’s fundamental principles are based on respect for local nature with its biodiversity (soil, flora and fauna, people and community); the preservation of resources (natural and cultural) and regional development. All the vineyards have undergone organic conversion and all possible waste is transformed into compost, which is shared with other growers.

The winery is fashioned into an old textile mill just at the base of the Serra da Estrela. In the search to find the best expression from each site and varietal, Marcelo and team have incorporated a multitude of vessels to experiment in the first years of Textura. Modern stainless steel lagares sit next to polished concrete eggs, several large foudres and old burgundian barrels (228L-600L). No wine is crafted by recipe, but the tools on hand offer the chance to explore the effects of various pressings, macerations, fermentations and elevage.

What remains consistent is natural fermentations with healthy lees contact throughout, sans battonage. The reds are handled gently with an eye to avoid over-extraction. Long aging in cool conditions and minimal racking, allowing for natural stabilization.