Portugal

Just 15 minutes from the Atlantic, the vineyards wake to misty mornings and chilly nights, even in early September. João crafts wines with “low doses of sulphur and high doses of care and attention.” Field blends are demanding, but he says, “The fun is to live with it.”

Why Chinado?

The name came from a drawing by Claudia, an illustrator and longtime friend. ‘Chinado’ is slang for ‘stabbed’ - a playful nod to wines that might surprise you, maybe even leave a little nick. It also refers to stones marking property boundaries: a vineyard marked by stones is ‘chinado.’

João’s wines are small-scale, natural, and deeply tied to the coastal terroir where Cistercian monks once crafted fine wines centuries ago. That tradition was mostly lost over time, but Chinado is quietly reviving it. Wines that speak of history, place, and the love of someone who chose to step in when it mattered most.