I first came into contact with the Douro Valley and Quinta do Crasto in 1962. That’s when I married Leonor Guedes de Almeida, whose grandfather Constantino de Almeida had been founder of the famed Constantino Port house.
Since then, Quinta do Crasto has become my life’s work. The last fifty years have brought me immense joy, but as in any great passion, great sacrifices as well.
In 1994 we began to bottle and sell our own Douro wines. Soon afterwards we began marketing Porto wines from Quinta’s stocks, beginning with the 1978 Vintage Port. At about the same time, I was able to start sharing this passion with my three children – Miguel, Tomás and Rita – whose hard work and energetic commitment have helped Quinta do Crasto earn its eminent position on the global wine map.
We started by investing in the vineyards themselves – the central component to producing quality wines. In response to the growing global interest in the Douro wines, we decided to invest even further and bought Quinta da Cabreira in Douro Superior (Upper Douro), a 150-hectare property, where we planted 114 hectares of vineyards. Later, in 2006, we acquired Quinta do Querindelo, strengthening the response to our growing needs. Investments continued with the renovation of the barrel cellar and, more recently, with the remodeling of wine cellars and lagares. Currently, we are again investing in the requalification of some vineyards.
