This proprietary brand of Vinho Verde represents a collaboration between Nossa Imports and a family-owned winery and farming collective located in Barcelos, Vale do Ave in the heart of the Minho Region and at the center of the Vinho Verde DOC. The partnering winery and farming collective was founded in 1951 and remains a family-owned operation. While the winery produces a wide range of wines it continues to operate with an extremely high level of integrity and transparency in their winemaking operations. Their long-standing contracts with growers across the region are based on generations worth of relationships between families and are marked by exacting standards for sustainability and ethical farming practices. Given the long nature of these growing relationships and careful oversight of the vineyards themselves on the part of the family, a collaborative and mutually beneficial relationship is maintained across all levels of production, representing admirable standards for the intersection of business, farming, and winemaking ethics.
Vai was created as a traditional and approachable expression of Vinho Verde that showcases the indigenous regional varietals of Loureiro, Trajadura, Avesso, and Arinto. Most of all Vai is intended to encapsulate the youthful vibrancy of both Vinho Verde and Portuguese wines as a whole. Vai is an approachable and affordable bottle of wine that still showcases the dynamic complexity that this rainiest region of Northern Portugal can express in its wines. It begs to be paired with the great outdoors, time spent with family and friends, and the everyday moments of life that are marked by connection and are worthy of being celebrated by raising a glass.
