Maria Gomes

Maria Gomes is the Bairrada name for the white grape known elsewhere in Portugal as Fernão Pires, one of the country's most widely planted varieties. It is aromatic and fleshy, with citrus, peach, orange blossom and a spicy, almost muscat-like lift. In Bairrada, near the Atlantic coast, it is used for crisp still wines and, very often, for traditional-method sparkling wine, where its perfume balances the region's high acidity. Producers like Luís Pato have shown it can make serious, textured whites, sometimes blended with Bical or Cercial.