The Estate
A Single Quinta, in the purest sense
The Portuguese equivalent of a single estate, domaine or azienda.
Every bottle we make comes from our own 14 hectares (37 acres) of organically farmed, class “A” vineyards: the highest rating given by the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto (IVDP), comparable to a French Grand Cru, and earned by fewer than 2.5% of the Douro appellation’s roughly 40,000 hectares of vineyards.
The estate sits at the confluence of the Tedo and Douro rivers in Cima Corgo, one of three subregions of the world’s oldest demarcated and regulated wine region. Carved granite feitoria stones, placed by the Marquis de Pombal between 1756 and 1761, still stand across our landscape like sentries — markers of the limits within which Porto was judged the finest in the valley, and alone authorised for export.
Early 11th Century
Our river has a legend
In the early 11th century, when the Douro was ruled by the Moorish king Alboacem, the knight Don Tedo — a descendant of King Ramiro II of León and among the first Christians in the valley — went unarmed to the king’s palace in Lamego to seek a truce, and was thrown into prison.
The king’s daughter, the beautiful princess Ardinia, fell in love with the dashing prisoner (don’t they always?) and helped him escape; an old monk named Gelasio baptised the lovers on the road.
On learning of his daughter’s romance and betrayal, the furious king struck Ardinia down with a lance. Don Tedo buried her at the nearby monastery of São Pedro das Águias and swore never to love again. Still vengeful, Alboacem hunted down and slew Don Tedo — whose blood flowed into a small stream the locals named Rio Tedo after him, and insist holds unique healing powers.
Those same waters feed Quinta do Tedo’s ecosystem to this day. The tale was translated long ago and may not be 100% credible — but we honour it at Casa do Cavalo, our new tasting room dedicated to Don Tedo and his horse in our old horse barn, and we named our winery dog Ardinia, after the Moorish princess, to reunite the two lovers in one place.
In the vineyard
18 varietals, 12 small parcels
On steep terraces of rocky schist, our closely spaced vines — 18 local red varietals led by Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional, Sousão, Tinto Cão, Tinta Roriz and Tinta Barroca — grow in 12 small parcels of 0.5–2 hectares, usually vinified separately.
When replanting, we reintroduce local varietals well adapted to the Douro’s hot, dry Mediterranean climate that hold their freshness through maturation. Our mature vineyards yield small quantities of deeply concentrated, complex fruit.
