PRODUCERS

Quinta do Vale Meão

The wines of Vale Meão are considered the absolute best in the Douro and we invite you to discover them. You will not only taste tasty and characterful wines, but you will also receive 150 years of fascinating history just like that. Vale Meão was the culmination of Dona Antonio's work in the late 19th century and her descendants still honor her legacy today.

Quinta do Vale Meão was created under the impetus of Dona Antonia Adelaide Ferreira. This strong woman, in the mid-19th century, was put in charge of her family's moribund port house. She would transform it into one of the most powerful producers and by far the largest landowner in the region. The list of domains she managed to acquire for the Ferreira family during her career is nothing short of astounding. Vargellas, Vallado, Vesuvio, these are just a few of the quintas that would gain world fame among porto lovers in the 20th century.
In one effort, she also cast herself as the great patron of the region, including building schools, parks and other facilities for local people.
Similarly, in 1877 Dona Antonia bought 300ha of land from the municipality of Vila Nova de Foz Cõa in the Douro Superior. Her ambition was to build a model vineyard there from scratch. The project was only completed 1 year before her death in 1896, but thus Quinta do Vale Meão was born and would remain in the hands of Dona Antonia's descendants to the present day.
From Barca Velha to Vale Meão, excellence for more than 65 years
During the late 1940s, the then winemaker of the Ferreira Port house, Fernando Nicolau de Almeida, managed to convince his employer to create a wine in the Douro inspired by the great Châteaux he had visited in Bordeaux. It helped that he was married to one of the Ferreira family's daughters, and so Nicolau de Almeida was able to pursue his dream of creating the great Portuguese icon wine.
Thus, in 1952, Quinta do Vale Meão produced a wine named after the old ferry that served at the level of the estate: Barca Velha or old ferry.
 
When Francisco Javier de Olazabal, the 4th generation descendant of Dona Antonia, became a director at Ferreira in the 1970s, he gradually sought to acquire all the shares of Vale Meão.From 1994, he became full owner and so this particular estate remained in the family's hands when Ferreira was sold to the big Sogrape company in the late 1990s.
Thus, Sogrape had to look for a new vineyard for Barca Velha. For this purpose, today they call upon the grapes of Quinta Da Leda, a few kilometres away.
Until 1998, the Olazabal family continued to supply grapes for Barca Velha, but from 2000 the harvest remained integral to the estate for the production of the first Quinta do Vale Meão under its own label.
The ambition could only be very high. After all, the tone had been set by Barca Velha. A new wine, from the same famous vineyards, could not be understated.
 
Francisco 'Xito' Olazabal gradually took over his father's role from then on.
He greatly refined his wine in the following years, eventually becoming internationally recognized today as one of Portugal's greatest red wines.

 
Quinta do Vale Meão is a blend of primarily Touriga Nacional, supplemented by Touriga Franca, Tinta Barroca and Tinta Roriz. The wine ages in wooden barrels of French oak, 80% of which are renewed each year. It is a powerful wine, but one that always maintains balance.
In addition to the top cuvée, Meandro also produces a more accessible variety that matures in older barrels because of its more limited concentration. Although this wine is meant to be drunk younger, it also ages fantastically in bottle.

 

On a small plot just before the estate's cellar, a strip of granite rises to the surface among the slate. There the family very deliberately planted Baga grapes.
Baga is of course best known as the grape of the Bairrada, but here and there you will also find it in the Douro. Xito made a very refined Douro with it under the label Vinha da Cantina. It is 1 of 3 single vineyard labels.
 
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