15 editor-picked Bical producers across 2 regions.
A guide to Bical worth seeking out, by region. We list the estates, how each region expresses the grape, and the bottles that show it best.
Cooperative founded in 1954 in Portalegre, bottling the Conventual, Portalegre and Terras de Baco ranges from Serra de Sao Mamede vineyards.
Tasting: Winery visits Monday to Friday with prior booking; on site shop and an online store.
Signature wines: Conventual Reserva, Conventual, Portalegre DOC, Terras de Baco
Family estate at Abrunhosa do Mato with 35 hectares of vines, three quarters red. Began bottling varietal reds in 1996 and a barrel-fermented Encruzado in 1998.
Tasting: Cellar and vineyard visits Monday to Friday 10:00 to 17:30 by prior booking, with tastings of two to four whites and three to five reds, and meals in the tasting room for groups of 10 or more.
Signature wines: Quinta dos Roques Encruzado, Quinta dos Roques Touriga Nacional, Quinta dos Roques Garrafeira
Adega at Quinta da Teixuga in Carvalhal Redondo, restarted by Paulo Santos in 2012 and now part of Grupo Terras e Terroir alongside Quinta da Pacheca in the Douro.
Tasting: Monday to Saturday 09:00 to 18:00, with cellar visits and three-wine tastings at 11:00, 14:30 and 16:30, vineyard walks, lunch pairings and a wine-and-chocolate tasting.
The Monteiro Albuquerque family has farmed here since the late nineteenth century; the fifth generation started bottling in 2006 and released the first wine, a 2010 red, in 2013.
Tasting: Monday to Friday 09:30 to 17:30; other days, weekends and public holidays by prior booking.
Signature wines: Menino Afonso, Avô António Reserva Encruzado, Avó Fernanda Branco
Cooperative of around 2,000 grower members at Loureiro de Silgueiros, founded in 1962 and crushing its first harvest in 1964.
Tasting: Monday to Friday 09:00 to 12:30 and 13:30 to 18:00, closed at weekends.
Cooperative formed in 1960 that took its first grapes in 1967 with 43 members. It now has about 950 and makes some six million litres a year, 80 per cent of it red.
Tasting: Visits and tastings at the cooperative by arrangement.
Organic and biodynamic estate at Mouraz, 25 hectares in scattered granite parcels between 200 and 400 metres. Ecocert-certified since 1996, working biodynamically since 2006.
Tasting: Visits to the vineyards and cellar at Mouraz by arrangement with the producer.
Casa Américo's Gouveia property inside the Serra da Estrela natural park, and the source of the Vinha de Púcaros Touriga Nacional Resíduo Zero, which the producer states is the first Iberian wine made from grapes with no pesticide residues.
Tasting: Visits by prior booking at the Quinta do Paço vineyard inside the Serra da Estrela natural park.
Signature wines: Vinha de Púcaros
Ten hectares at 500 to 600 metres in the Serra da Estrela sub-region, producing since 2007 and bottling three vegan ranges alongside its Touriga Nacional and Encruzado.
Tasting: Monday to Friday 09:00 to 18:00.
The Amorim family's visitor cellar at Silvã de Cima, running guided tours and four tasting tiers from the Villae range to Grande Villae. Closing moves to 19:00 from April to October.
The wine shop and tasting counter at the centre of the Santar garden village, with guided garden slots at 10:00, 12:00, 15:00 and 17:00 through the summer season.
José Lourenço pours his own bottlings at Abrunhosa do Mato, with three flight sizes and an optional catered lunch for booked groups. Phone ahead to confirm the slot.
A Tondela estate whose white comes from an interplanted old vineyard at Quinta do Laranjal, with Encruzado, Malvasia, Gouveio, Bical and Cerceal mixed in the rows rather than blocked out.
Why locals love it: A Tondela estate on the western rim that most visitors drive past on the way to the Nelas cluster, with an interplanted white vineyard worth the detour.
Tip: Ask to see the Laranjal plot rather than just taste from it; the interplanting is the whole argument for the wine.
A white field blend of Encruzado, Malvasia Fina, Cerceal Branco and Bical at 9.94 euros, the four classic white grapes of the region in one bottle under ten euros.
Tip: The producer publishes the blend as 45 per cent Encruzado, 35 Malvasia Fina, 10 Cerceal Branco and 10 Bical, and asks for 4 to 6 degrees.
A white blend of Encruzado and Bical from altitude vineyards on granite, fermented and aged in stainless steel, 14.50 euros on the estate's own organic-farmed shop.
Tip: Textura farms 22 hectares organically across seven parcels; the Pretexto is the range that shows what that costs at entry level.
More regions are in research. Want Bical covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to drink.