Claúdio Martins launches sparkling wine to… 40€!

No, there's no shortage of two or three zeros to the right of number four. The man who scandalized Portugal by valuing and selling Portuguese wine at an unexpectedly high price, also sells other wines at fairer prices to the national reality. This is the case of Libertine, an English sparkling wine produced by the English Master of Wine Liam Steevenson.

Those who know the world of Portuguese wine, and still like it to the world reality, know that our wines have an enormous quality, but are never valued internationally as they should. From there, Cláudio Martins - who for years worked in the UK in the area of wine marketing and restoration - arrives in Portugal and decides to do so, but in a bombastic way! After all, no one expected it to start launching wines in partnership with Portuguese producers, and selling them at astronomical prices for the national reality, something that has sparked controversial reactions, it is already known.

One thing is certain: To value Portuguese wine it was necessary to come someone like Cláudio Martins, with a confident and provocative commercial vision, knowledgeable of the world market and with premium customers, to say that Portuguese wines are as good as others in the world, many of them costing money. And to say, too, that there are people with money to buy them. What makes us upset, in fact, is the fact that most Portuguese do not have money to buy them, but that is already many others. There's a lot of people out there who have money to put these bottles. and if no one gets mad at Cristiano Ronaldo for buying cars like buying shirts, why should we bother other millionaires to buy our wines at this price? Let them buy ours and not those from other countries, to drink them and say well of our quality. Increasingly. If the wines really are worth the price you're asking for? Every head, your sentence; buys who can and who wants. And that's it.

And now, yes, let's go to the wine that brings me here today. Englishman Liam Steevenson was the youngest person to pass the Master of Wine exam (in 2004, aged just 27) having worked for more than 20 years with the UK's leading wine merchants. Base that served him to finally devote himself to his own wine business, producing wines through partner producers in several countries. Now, it is also launching a sparkling, wine-style that has gained great strength in the UK.

Produced in Essex, one of England's most reputed wine regions, in clay, gravel and sand soils, Libertine is a sparkling wine of several crops (hence not dated) that combines two French noble varieties, Pinot Noir (60%) and Chardonnay (40%) . It has fine bubble and fruity aroma, with fresh red fruits in evidence – strawberries, raspberry. It also reveals good minerality and spice. On the palate it is dry, of good freshness, full-bodied, elegant and very balanced.

For a country that does not have strong wine traditions, the quality of this wine surprises. "Climate change is allowing English regions like Essex, Sussex or Kent to produce good wines, so some major global investors are already betting on the UK," explains Cláudio Martins. He adds: "Stevenson is a very well-known professional, produces quality wines in several countries, but this one, because he is from his country, turns out to be special. Moreover, the patriotism of the English is very strong, the sparkling wine sells really very well». Of this limited edition sparkling wine, Steevenson bottled 2000 bottles and, for Portugal, came 200, which can be found in restaurants and wine cellars of reference.