Luis Pato

The Pato family has produced wine at Quinta do Ribeirinho since the 18th century. João Pato began bottling wine from his vineyards in 1970, becoming the first producer in the Bairrada region. His son, Luis Pato, continued this legacy, producing his first monovarietal Baga wine in 1980. In 1985, Luis revolutionized Bairrada by making red wine from destemmed grapes and aging it in new French oak barrels. He planted non-grafted Baga vines in 1988 and produced the first Vinhas Velhas in Portugal. In 1990, he became a judge at the International Wine Challenge. By 1995, he launched single vineyard wines and in 1998, acquired Vinha Formal for a top-tier white wine. In 1999, he left the Denomination of Controlled Origin, labeling his wines as Regional Beiras. Luis conducted his first “precision harvest” in 2001 and made his first wine with his daughter Filipa in 2005. He introduced single-vineyard sparkling wine in 2008 and natural sweet wines in 2009. In 2010, he created white sparkling wines, Informal and Quinta do Moinho, from Baga harvested in single vineyards.