Baga, red grape found throughout central portugal but mostly in the bairrada region, where, unusually for Portugal, it accounts for as much as 90% of dark-skinned varieties. It is a vigorous variety, resistant to powdery mildew but ripens late and has a tendency to rot in the damp Atlantic climate of Portugal’s western seaboard, threatened by early autumn rains. This small, thin-skinned variety (baga means ‘berry’) produces dark, fairly acidic, tannic wines that can be undrinkably astringent if the grapes are under-ripe. Well-made wines such as those of Baga champion Luis Pato are full of fruit and capable of long ageing, however. A large amount of Baga ends up as rosé: Sogrape, producers of mateus rosé, have a large winery in the Bairrada region. Portuguese plantings totalled 9,885 ha/24,426 acres in 2010.
