Bairrada Sparkling & Suckling Pig

Bairrada Sparkling & Suckling Pig

Bairrada means 'made of clay' — the region named itself after its own terroir. The Baga grape is thick-skinned, late-ripening, and tannic enough to rival Nebbiolo, yet the region only received official DOC status in 1979. Luís Pato planted ungrafted Baga vines in 1988 — almost nowhere else in Europe does this post-phylloxera. Pair it with leitão da Bairrada: suckling pig roasted in wood-fired brick ovens until the skin becomes crackling glass. Pedro dos Leitões in Mealhada has been doing this since 1942. When you sit down, wave away the couvert — touch it and you pay.