General Info
Farm: Sitio Ponte Funda
Varietal: 100% Catuai
Processing: Natural
Altitude: 1200 metres
Owner: Benedito Marcondes
Town / City: Poços de Caldas
Region: Minas Gerais
Sitio Ponto Funda - Brazil
Senhor Benedito Marcondes has spent his whole life surrounded by coffee. He grew up on a coffee farm in Cabo Verde – about 60 km from Poços de Caldas – where his brother continues to grow coffee today, and he has helped his family with all aspects of cultivation and processing from a very young age. In 2006, the opportunity to purchase Sitio Ponte Funda arose. Having always liked the area around Poços de Caldas, he made the decision to move south and carry on the family tradition of producing coffees of the highest quality.
The mountainous terrain in which Sitio Ponte Funda lies is ideal for growing coffee. The town of Poços de Caldas sits within the crater of an extinct volcano, and coffee farms line the crater’s high rim. At 1,200 metres, Sito Ponte Funda benefits from ideal temperatures and the rich, volcanic soil endemic to the area. The marriage of these natural conditions combined with Senhor Benedito’s expertise makes for some exceptional coffee.
Currently, Sitio Ponte Funda only uses Natural processing for their coffees. He and his wife, Ireni Reis Marcato Marcondes, and son, Helder, do all the post harvest work. In 2015 the family began experimenting with microlots and so far have produced a 100% Yellow Bourbon lot and this 100% Catuaí lot. Senhor Benedito is increasingly attentive to microlot separation and plans to continue experimenting in the future.