‘In the Douro Valley, the world’s first officially demarcated wine-producing region, there are old vines of incalculable patrimonial value. Planted on terraces supported by dry-stone walls for over a hundred years, and often abandoned for decades, many of them produce wines of peerless quality.’
João Ferreira Álvares Ribeiro
The
Douro
In 1999, on one of their trips exploring the Douro and its tributaries, João Alvares Ribeiro, Francisco Ferreira and Francisco Olazabal discovered a plot of old vines in a hard-to-reach ravine by the Rio Torto, a tributary of the Douro. is was no one-off. ere are many old vines scattered throughout the Douro, some good, others less good, others absolutely sublime. is is living heritage, testament to centuries-old practices and know-how.
For example, the vineyard that supplies the grapes for Adelaide boasts a mix of over 30 varieties, which was normal practice in centuries past. e vines are resilient, and each provides no more than 400 grams of fruit, which means a limited amount of wine. Adelaide hails from this plot.
“In the Douro, the climate is extreme, its interior character is extreme, work conditions in the mountains are extreme. It’s impossible not to fall in love with this place: for its beauty, the heady aromas that fluctuate from season to season (the dust, the damp earth, the rockrose, the orange blossom, the must from the grape harvest) and the people who live here.”
Francisco Ferreira
“I started tasting wine very young but only seriously and with a passion from the age of twenty, when I began to understand the diversity and complexity of the wines and everything associated with them: the land, the climate, the grape varieties and the different aspects of winemaking.”
Francisco Ferreira
