Marta Soares opens a bottle of wine to accompany our lunch at her favourite spot in the village of Vermelha – “The best taberna in Portugal!” she proclaims with a smile. The wine is Casal Figueira – António 2009, and it bears the weight of history on its shoulders. It was made by both Soares and her late husband António Augusto Carvalho, who died aged 43 in the middle of the harvest that year. Carvalho pressed the grapes, and had them fermenting in tanks at the time of his death. Soares then took over and matured the wine before its eventual bottling, with his name on the label as an homage.
I flash a look across the table at my colleague Ryan Opaz, as we both struggle to retain composure. It’s an emotional moment, and not only because the wine and the plate of juicy ameijoas on the table pair to perfection. But Soares doesn’t blink. She casually fills our glasses while chatting away about winemaking, art and village life.
Soares has long since moved on, and expresses slight frustration that her press hasn’t always kept up. “The story has occupied a lot of space, but I’ve been making wine for 12 years on my own now” she says. “I’m not just this sad widow continuing the work of my dead husband. That image really doesn’t suit me!”
Spend any amount of time with Soares and this becomes very clear. Art remains the major focus of her life, as shes juggles careers as
This Article was originally published on The Morning Claret
