Quinta de Ventozelo Portugal

Good things come to those who wait! We've not been that big in Portugal in the past (to say the least!) and a certain someone has been on at me for ages about an estate in the Douro that I really should see - it seemed there was never enough time.

Well, a very flying visit to the Douro recently persuaded me that this was something I should have done a long time ago. In quite the most spectacular position I have ever seen, the Quinta de Ventozelo is perched high above the majestic Douro river and encompasses some 650 ha in total with some 250 ha planted to vines - making it one of the three biggest single estates in the region. Though the Quinta has been mapped for centuries and has been a supplier to some of the major houses, until recently it had not marketed wines or ports under its own name.

5 years ago the Quinta was sold to a major Spanish fish dealer who wished to invest heavily in the estate and the transformation and investment have been staggering. Neatly terraced vineyards are now almost entirely planted to 16 different varieties whilst the second phase of investment in the winery is now reaching completion. The scale of the work that has already been done is amazing. At the same time, the owners have launched a range of table wines and ports that has already hit the headlines. The Wine Spectator has recently voted Ventozelo as the value brand of the year whilst giving two of the single varietal table wines 92 & 93 points.

I'm delighted to be able to announce that Alliance will now be representing them in the U.K market and September will see the launch of a full range of Douro table wines and an extensive range of high quality ports from ruby through vintage LBV through to immensely classy vintages.

As a seasoned visitor to vineyards all over the world one does sometimes become jaded - it is one of the joys of the job to find someone like Ventozelo that is just at the beginning of a very fast rise to the top. The combination of some of the most amazing vineyards sites I have ever seen along with progressive, open minded owners means that this is sure to become one of the stars of the portfolio.