Xisto Wines is run by Anton Mann and Lela McTernan who lovingly import wines from Portugal. They have been visiting the country for longer than either of them care to remember. They have been bringing wine and food treasures back to the UK in their camper van since the 1990s. Their love of the country and its produce evolved into a business, Xisto Wines, importing and selling Portuguese wine and food to their home city of Bristol.
Sustainable Wine Making
Anton and Lela work with the new wave of young winemakers in Portugal; producers who work sustainably, making small quantity quality ines with character and a sense of place. These winemakers practice minimum intervention, integrated farming using organic and biodynamic methods. Anton and Lela know every winemaker personally and the visit every producer so the provenance from the vine to your glass is assured.
The Circle of Zero Waste
Together they have pioneered the ‘Circle of Zero Waste’ and reconnected Bristol with its twin city of Porto, transporting products fossil fuel free as much as possible. Most of Xisto Wines’ produce is transported by engineless sailing ships from Porto to Bristol which delivers a zero carbon cargo.
From Porto to Port O’Bristol
The full realisation of the zero carbon cargo is in the PORT O’BRISTOL project; originally a plan to make the most natural, authentic wines with the minimum impact on the planet.
The first collaborations were with multi award-winning wine maker Mateus Nicolau Almeida, founder of the alternative wine show in Porto. The process works as follows:
- Mateus and Anton make the wine for the barrels
- The barrels are loaded in Porto and sailed to England
- The wine is bottled in re-claimed espumante or champagne bottles, collected by our wonderful collaborating customers
- Our customers also play their part supplying our vehicles with waste cooking oils to fuel the deliveries
- We use and buy no plastics, and re-use and collect all packaging whenever possible, encouraging customers to find efficient, waste-free solutions
Anton Mann and Mateus Nicolau Almeida are recognised as leading practitioners of the “Circular Economy” using methods to create closed circles with no waste.
The latest barrel to be imported has gone on loan to local beer champions Wiper & True for a special edition beer. The next is already wanted by a local cidermaker. More collaborations and circles are in the offing.
