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A tribute to Dona Antónia Adelaide Ferreira, a unique wine. Made from a vineyard in Rio Torto, from very old vineyards, mainly planted in the 1940s but some more than a hundred years old. Traditionally planted as a blend of more than 30 indigenous grape varieties. The soil is predominantly black slate. These vines, planted at a density of 7,000 vines per hectare, yield an average of 400 g per plant, equivalent to 2.8 tons per hectare. This makes these vines among the lowest yields per hectare in the world. A very rare wine, bottled only in exceptional years and in very small quantities (about 4,000 bottles).
The wine is dominated by big bold tannins that give a sense of great power. This produces a wine with a strong structure and a dry edge that will soften with time. Very concentrated, with notes of balsamic, fig, black plum and tobacco. It has full-bodied, firm, ripe and silky tannins. Mineral notes with a very elegant, persistent and complex finish.
The grapes, after careful manual selection on the sorting belt, were destemmed and fermented in stainless steel tanks. Aging and malolactic fermentation take place in new 225-liter French oak barrels for 20 months.
Quinta do Vallado, founded in 1716, is one of the oldest and most famous estates in the Douro Valley. It suffered on the banks of the Corgo River, a tributary north of the Douro River, right next to the mouth where the Corgo and Douro rivers merge, close to the town of Peso da Régua. It belonged to the legendary Dona Antónia Adelaide Ferreira and is still owned by her descendants today.
Quinta do Vallado was acquired by António Bernardo Ferreira (uncle and father-in-law of Dona Antónia) in 1818. The main activity of Quinta do Vallado was the production of port wine, which was sold by the family's port house - Casa Ferreira.
This happened until 1987, when Casa Ferreira was sold. After the sale of Casa Ferreira, new challenges arose and in 1993, under the leadership of Guilherme Álvares Ribeiro and his wife Maria Antónia Ferreira, the company decided to expand into the production, bottling and marketing of private label wines. In the same year, under the direction of Prof. Nuno Maghalhães, the Quinta began a thorough restructuring of its vineyards, with the goal of producing high-quality grapes.
The new vineyards were planted with a single variety in each plot, breaking the old tradition of mixing different varieties in the same vineyard. Today, Quinta do Vallado has 10 hectares of old vineyards planted between the 1920s and 1950s, including Vinha da Granja in 1929 and Vinha da Coroa in 1958. The remaining 55 hectares were planted in the 1990s.
In Vila Nova de Foz Côa, Quinta do Vallado acquired Quinta do Orgal where 35 hectares of organically grown vineyards have been planted since 2009. Quinta do Vallado is currently managed by João Ferreira Álvares Ribeiro (CEO) and Fransisco Ferreira (Board Member, Agricultural Management, Winemaking and Production), with assistance from Francisco Olazábal (Winemaker). All great-great-grandsons of Dona Antónia Adelaide Ferreira.
Under this management, a unique and modern building was constructed in 2009 to house the new winery and barrel cellar, which combine state-of-the-art technology with high-quality architectural design, making it one of the most visited sites in the Douro Valley.
