July 10, 2025 - 0 comments
Introducing Vinho Verde by Miguel Viseu from Galactic Wines
Last May, we had the opportunity to visit the vineyard where Leli and Miguel Viseu work in the Vinho Verde region of northern Portugal. This encounter allowed us to discover a vision of Vinho Verde quite different from the usual image of light, sparkling wine. Miguel guides us through the specificities of this unique region, which owes its name to the green landscape it maintains year-round. Between traditional techniques and modern adaptations, he shares his passion for wines that deserve to be better known and understood.
What is vinho verde?
Vinho verde means green wine, but it's green because this area stays green all the year. It's not a kind of wine, it's a region demarcated, a DOC.
Because this region is probably the ornly region in Portugal that stays green all the year. You can see any yellow, it's just green all over the river, the mountains. The vines, they ripen a different way because they have water always available, even the maturity, the level of sugar, the level of acidity.
The Pergola System: Tradition Meets Climate Change
Currently, we have a temperature that is not usual for this region, it's too hot. Thanks to the pergola system, the grape cluster is protected from the sun, there is more aeration, it is further away from fungal pressure. It's a very good system, but an expensive system, which is why no one plants this way anymore.
Cellaring, aging and storage
Vinho Verde is a wine that has everything to be aged for a long time, these wines evolve in a beautiful way. I put them in Rhénane bottles, which the Portuguese also call pistol bottles. It's the typical Vinho Verde bottle. Over time people stopped using it, I decided to give this sense of region to the wine by using the traditional bottle.
Chestnut barrels have been part of SARAVÁ wines from the beginning. It's a beautiful container, beautiful wood, which doesn't influence the wine. Moreover, it's inexpensive, and finally the chestnut comes from Portugal, everything is perfect. The tinajas (amphorae) are completely raw, I find it very interesting, it concentrates the wine a bit, higher micro-oxygenation, it adds something to the wine. Sometimes, depending on the year, we ferment here, sometimes we only age.
SARAVÁ: A Wine, a Blessing, a Life Project
SARAVÁ is a Brazilian and African term, which means force of nature, it's also a kind of blessing. It tells the story of Leli and me, because I met her in Brazil, we lived in Mozambique, it's our project. With my wife. Leli is a journalist, over time, she has become more and more involved in the wine business. The name Galactic Wines is because we lose the sense of our belonging to the cosmos, to something greater than us. The sun, which is the greatest force of nature, the way everything begins with a spiral, how all planets evolve in the universe, how water infiltrates everywhere... I think it's very significant. It's much more than a wine project: we're trying to create an art of living, a reflection on how we inhabit our time.
Through their SARAVÁ project, Miguel Viseu and Leli show us that there is another way to approach Vinho Verde. Their choices, traditional bottles, chestnut barrels, tinajas, testify to a constant search for quality. Together, they develop a personal approach to wine that blends respect for local traditions with openness to the world.
