Portugal · Bucelas

Purista Vinhos

Ana Cardoso Pinto’s Alenquer project pairs organic vineyard work and concrete-fermented wines with a dry, saline-edged Encruzado.

The producer

Purista Vinhos is Ana Cardoso Pinto’s independent project in Alenquer, Lisboa. An architect, sommelier and winemaker, she planted her own vineyards in 2019 and launched Purista in 2021. Organic work, including sheep for weed control, joins spontaneous fermentation, concrete tanks and low sulfites, leaving fruit and acidity at the centre of the wines.

The four-wine range includes whites and reds. Encruzado Purista 2023 is the clearest view of the house style: a dry 12% Lisboa white with citrus and floral aromas, a light-bodied palate, fresh acidity, mineral detail and a subtly saline finish.

Known for

Minimal-intervention wines from Alenquer, with concrete-fermented Encruzado as the clearest documented bottle.

Notable facts

The story

From Harvests To Purista

Ana Cardoso Pinto had taken part in harvests since 2003 when she began formal wine studies at UC Davis in 2011. She then completed a sommelier course at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley before joining her family winery in 2012. There she worked across vineyard, cellar, sales and marketing. In 2019 she began working as a winegrower and planted her own vineyards. Purista followed in 2021. The project remains separate from the family winery while using its 19th-century concrete tanks for the wines.

From Harvests To Purista

Ana Cardoso Pinto had taken part in harvests since 2003 when she began formal wine studies at UC Davis in 2011. She then completed a sommelier course at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley before joining her family winery in 2012. There she worked across vineyard, cellar, sales and marketing. In 2019 she began working as a winegrower and planted her own vineyards. Purista followed in 2021. The project remains separate from the family winery while using its 19th-century concrete tanks for the wines.

From the atlas

Purista Vinhos

At A Glance

Purista Vinhos is Ana Cardoso Pinto’s independent project in Alenquer, in Portugal’s Lisboa region. An architect, sommelier and winemaker, Pinto launched the label in 2021 after planting her own vineyards in 2019. The four-wine range spans whites and reds; Encruzado Purista 2023 is the most clearly documented bottle, a 12% white Lisboa wine with citrus, floral notes, mineral character, fresh acidity and a light saline finish.

The Producer

Purista brings Ana Cardoso Pinto’s work in architecture into the vineyard and cellar. Her minimalist architectural language informs a minimal-intervention approach: organic vineyard work, spontaneous fermentation, concrete tanks, low sulfites, and no stabilisation or filtration where documented. Those decisions put grape and vintage ahead of conspicuous cellar flavour, particularly in the dry Encruzado bottling.

Place

Purista is associated with Alenquer in Lisboa, north of Lisbon. On Encruzado Purista 2023, Lisboa is more than a regional line on the label: it locates a Portuguese white made from Encruzado, a local grape whose citrus, floral and mineral notes carry the wine’s character. The range also includes red wines, so the project is not confined to one colour or one grape.

Soil And Site

The documented site detail is agricultural rather than geological. Pinto began planting her own vineyards in 2019 and uses organic methods, including sheep for weed control. That keeps ground cover management in the vineyard rather than relying only on machinery or herbicides; the resulting wines are presented through their fruit, acidity and texture rather than unsupported claims about a named soil or slope.

Story

Wine was part of Pinto’s working life before Purista had a label. She had joined harvests from 2003, began formal wine study at UC Davis in 2011, then completed sommelier training at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley. From 2012 she worked across vineyard, cellar, sales and marketing at her family winery. Planting her own vineyards in 2019 turned that broad experience towards a separate project, and Purista followed in 2021 with wines shaped around concrete, wild yeast and modest additions of sulphur.

Vineyards And Cellar

Purista is separate from the Cardoso Pinto family winery, while using the family cellar’s 19th-century concrete tanks. Concrete is central to the documented cellar picture: fermentation begins spontaneously with wild yeast, then the wines are handled with low sulfites and, where documented, without stabilisation or filtration. The approach avoids a formula of strong oak flavour or heavily adjusted texture. In the white wine, it leaves room for citrus fruit, floral aroma, mineral notes and a salty edge to remain distinct.

Organic vineyard work and low-intervention cellar practice are connected here by timing. Pinto planted in 2019, then released the Purista brand in 2021 as the project took shape. Rather than treating vineyard and cellar as separate departments, the label carries both decisions into a compact range: fruit grown under organic methods, then fermented and raised with a short list of documented inputs.

Wines

Purista began with two wines and had expanded to four by 2024, divided between white and red styles. Encruzado and Tinta Miúda joined the range in that expansion. The range is deliberately small in the available record, so its architecture is clearer than an exhaustive catalogue: white wines bring acidity, citrus, floral perfume and mineral detail; the red side adds a second colour and Tinta Miúda without a supplied tasting profile.

Encruzado Purista 2023 supplies the firmest taste reference. It is a dry white Lisboa wine from Encruzado at 12% alcohol. Its citrus and floral fruit sit on a light-bodied palate, while mineral notes and a subtly saline finish stop the wine from reading as simply fruity. The modest alcohol supports a fresh, clean line rather than broad weight.

In The Glass

Pour Encruzado Purista 2023 and the first cues are citrus and flowers, followed by mineral notes. The palate is dry and light in body, with fresh acidity carrying the fruit instead of sugar or oak sweetness. A faint saline note appears towards the finish, giving the wine a savoury edge. Encruzado is the reason those aromas and acidity are central; concrete and low-intervention handling leave them unobscured.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with Encruzado Purista 2023. It is the named bottle that joins Purista’s place, grape and cellar work in one glass: white Encruzado from Lisboa, 12% alcohol, spontaneous fermentation and concrete in the documented method. Expect dry citrus, floral perfume, mineral notes, fresh acidity and a light saline finish. Its light body makes the vineyard-and-cellar approach easy to taste without needing a comparison bottle beside it.

Anecdote

Ana Cardoso Pinto had been taking part in harvests since 2003 when she began formal wine studies at UC Davis in 2011. She then took a sommelier course at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley, before joining her family winery in 2012. There she worked across vineyard, cellar, sales and marketing. In 2019, she began working as a winegrower and planted her own vineyards. Two years later, in 2021, she launched Purista. The independent label now works separately from the family winery while using its 19th-century concrete tanks for the wines.

Final Word

Purista is a young Alenquer project with a clear physical thread: vineyards planted by Ana Cardoso Pinto, organic work that includes sheep, and wines fermented with wild yeast in concrete. Encruzado Purista 2023 is where that thread is easiest to follow, from citrus aroma through fresh acidity to its lightly saline finish.

Sources

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