Galactic Wines

Thank you to importer Louis/Dressner for this estate profile.

Originally from the Douro, Miguel Viseu spent the better part of his twenties travelling around the world learing the craft of winemaking. After stints in Napa, Burgundy, Tuscany, Cahors and Brazil, he felt confident in his skills and decided to pursue his longtime dream of living in Africa. After working in Mozambique for three years for a large company, wine was once again calling. So Miguel and his wife Leli decided to move back to Portugal.

The plan was originally to work for a large, mainstream Douro producer and make wines independently on the side. When that fell through, Miguel decided to take over an abandoned winery in the Douro and start his own estate. But five days before his return to Portugal, a friend tipped him off that Vasco Croft, the owner of biodynamic pioneer Aphros, was looking for a head winemaker.  A minute into the interview, both parties agreed to work together.

Miguel has been the head winemaker at Aphros as of the 2017 harvest. Around the same time, he'd originally been approached by a friend to help out on another project, but the prospect seemed like too much at the time. But by the end of 2018, Miguel felt up to the task; after setting up his garage to make his friend's wine, he and Leli agreed it was an opportunity to make their own. They purchased grapes from a friend and vinified their first vintage in 2018.

Still in its infancy, Galactic is currently a tiny négociant project producing a few thousand bottles a year. The goal is to remain very small and independent but to eventually rent vines and work biodynamically. The wines are vinified naturally with zero intervention save maceration and only see a small amount of S02 at bottling.