Tiago Sampaio

The Path

Agricultural engineering gave Tiago Sampaio a working frame for wine before the cellar did. Studying in Vila Real, he built the technical base of a winemaker through Local agricultural school, College, and Oregon State University, with the vineyard treated as a system worth understanding on its own terms. The throughline is consistent: an early interest in agriculture, and in winemaking, became the basis for a professional practice that has stayed close to the land.

The Work Today

At Folias de Baco in the Douro, Portugal, Tiago Sampaio works in a region where the craft is shaped by terrain as much as by cellar procedure. The role of winemaker there sits at the point where vines, seasons, fermentation, blending, and time all have to be read together. Since 1999, that continuity has defined the work: not a separate chapter from agricultural training, but its daily application in wine.

Signature

The signature wines attached to Tiago Sampaio are Uivo Branco, Uivo Renegado, Uivo PT NAT, Uivo Curtido, and Uivo Renegado Vinhas Velhas 2017. Taken together, they point to a body of work built across different expressions while staying anchored to the same place and sensibility.

In Their Words “"I went. I was supposed to stay six months and I ended up staying nine months. Then they invited me to go back and do a PhD."” “"My family is originally from the Douro Valley, and both sides of the family had vineyards, but they stopped making their own wines in the late 50s and 60s."”

Acclaim

Tiago Sampaio is a winemaker at Folias de Baco.