João Tavares
João is a passionate and opinionated guy who makes unbelievable wine. He believes that to be truly organic means to do as little as possible in the vineyard and winery. If you visit the vineyards you will see João’s commitment to nature everywhere. Wildflowers act as natural protectants to the vines because of the antiseptic properties of the pollen. João’s favorite wildflowers are two kinds of chamomile that grow rampant throughout his vineyards. The terroir is full of granite. João literally built his vineyards out of the soil. He excavated large granite boulders and built his own retaining walls. He even placed the boulders in the creeks to make paths across the property. When you walk around you see the components of granite everywhere: quartz, mica and feldspar.Boavista is an anomaly in the Dão. The region has undergone some changes since 1986, before then producers could only sell to co-ops here, but the region is still 85% co-op wine. Tavares is pushing the frontiers of natural winemaking recovering lost native grape varieties to the vineyards through their nursery project, where there is some more grape varieties than those who are planted in the vines
