Alvarelhão, Pedral, Cainho and Doçal
Young cordon-trained vines, grafted in the parcel in the old-fashioned way, using selected seeds from the best plants of the sub-region.
It reflects the wines of bygone days: red wines with light colour, moderate alcohol, good longevity, and an elegant, gentle profile.
After rigorous ripeness control, the grapes are hand-harvested into small 20 kg boxes. Full destemming is followed by cold skin maceration for 12 hours and low-temperature fermentation for 15 days. Complete malolactic fermentation. The final blend is composed of 50% wine aged in 225 L French oak barrels and 50% aged in stainless steel, ensuring that the wine’s authenticity is preserved while enhancing its qualities and gaining complexity.
50% in 225L French oak barrels and 50% in stainless steel tanks.
Seared Tuna Steak with Beetroot Purée and Roasted Vegetables
Born from the land, Xavier Ferreira and his family created the Sumius project, driven by the desire to give voice and new life to the red grape varieties of the Sub-region which, in times past (dating back to the 13th century), endowed the wines of Monção and Melgaço with the quality that earned them worldwide recognition. Marked by delicacy and refinement, these wines were exported through the trading post of Viana do Castelo and admired for their freshness, subtle colour, alcohol level, and elegance.
At that time, red varieties were the most renowned, shaping the viticultural landscape in place of the white grapes seen today.
By the 1990s, thanks to viticultural knowledge, technical and scientific progress, and the modernisation of wineries, red varieties gradually gave way to white ones such as Alvarinho, which feels completely at home in this region, achieving its highest expression of singular quality, and today recognised as the noblest grape of the Monção and Melgaço Sub-region.
The quality of red varieties such as Alvarelhão, Caínho, Pedral, Borraçal, and Vinhão is undeniable, and they represent a heritage that the family believes must be preserved, in honour of the generations who passed down their traditional knowledge, perfected over time. They combine empirical wisdom with scientific understanding, and therefore continue to support scientific studies on these grapes, which have come to be known as “minority varieties” due to their declining presence in the vineyards of the Sub-region.
With the same dedication “as in the old days” and with genuine passion, the Sumius project continues this tradition, listening to each vine, hand-harvesting the grapes, and ensuring that every bottle of Sumius brings consumers the authenticity, complexity, and uniqueness of its terroir and the DNA of its grape varieties.
