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Tours in Douro Valley, Portugal

Quinta Nova de Nossa Senhora do Carmo (QN - RVP member) is situated in the Cima Corgo on the north bank of the Douro valley, west of Pinhão. It comprises a winery and a hotel with eleven rooms, renovated by the architect Arnaldo Barbosa.

The private access road of QN has been well paved with small cobbles.

A small sitting and dining room surrounded with glass, lets in the sun and provides a wide view. QN of course has a swimming pool, offers many activities, specifically caters for children and has facilities for the disabled.

Wine therapy

Wine therapies for groups are organized by appointment.

The company Q. Nova de Nossa Senhora do Carmo Sociedade Agrícola Comercial e Turismo Lda of the Amorim family comprises 120 hectares of which 85 have vine with class A Port rights. QN has a modern winery with an inox robot with silicone feet.

The Port wines as well as the table wines are marketed with the relatively young brand Quinta Nova. Until now these were Vintages beginning in 1995, but most other types will soon be available.

Quinta do Portal

Quinta do Portal (QdoP - RVP member) is situated in the Cima Corgo, north of Pinhão. The hotel of QdoP named Casa das Pipas (CdasP) is situated about 500 metres behind the company’s complex. CdasP with ten rooms was designed by English architect Matteo Salte, who now lives in Portugal.

In January 2006 the hotel CdasP was inaugurated. It has seven standard rooms and three somewhat larger superior rooms with a small balcony. All rooms have been individually  decorated and named after Portuguese grape varieties. In special cases three rooms can be added to make up a total of thirteen. The dining room and a small fitness room are located on the ground floor and a large sitting room with wide views on the first floor. The hotel is surrounded by a spacious garden with luxious grass, seats and a swimming pool.

A well known Port Wine Company Sociedade Q. do Portal is owned by the Mansilho Branco family and is, in spite of its relatively small size, one of the most successful Port wine companies. The company consists of four quintas with a total area of 95 hectares with Port rights. In 2006 a major reconstruction and extension of the winery and the cellars was started being designed by the well known Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza Vieira who also designed the new Port glass with the striking square stem. The complex will also include a reception and tasting room and an auditorium with 74 seats.

Tours in Ribatejo, Portugal

Quinta da Lagoalva – a producer of fine wine

Its long history as a wine producer can be seen from the fact that in 1888 it was present at the Portuguese Industrial Exhibition with 600 wine casks.The estate, which formerly belonged to the 2nd Duke of Palmela, has passed to his descendants and is now the property of Sociedade Agrícola da Quinta da Lagoalva de Cima, S.A.
Lusitano horses and bulls.

The 4th Duke of Palmela introduced horses and bulls to the estate in 1909. The estate's Lusitano horses were bred from brood mares of the National Stud (Coudelaria Nacional), later improved with the use of stallions from the stud owned by Manuel Tavares Veiga.

Horses and bulls first arrived in Lagoalva in1909with the 4th Duke of Palmela and Marquis of Faial, Luís Borges Coutinho de Medeiros, who set up a ganadaria (cattle farm), purchasing twenty four mares from the coudelaria (stud) of Duque de Toledo - King Alfonso XIII of Spain - in Rio Frio near Madrid, to join his brood mares.

The coudelaria’s Lusitano breed, created from the mares of the Coudelaria Nacional or Portuguese National Stud and other Andalusians already belonging to the coudelaria, first began to establish themselves in the 20th century.

The coudelaria produces carriage horses and horses for bullfighting and teaching; they are predominantly grey, with a convex head and good physical form. Among the horses produced by the coudelaria are the bullfighting horses “Biquini”, ridden by José Lupi, “Tal” by Emídio Pinto and “Altivo” by Manuel Jorge de Oliveira and later “Rejoneador” by Javier Mayoral.

Tours in Bucelas              

Quinta da Murta in Bucelas -  A famous wine region in Portugal

A famous wine, produced in the little wine vineyards region about 30 km north of Lisbon, iwhich was delimited in 1911. 

The white wine has a controlled origin denomination. A wine with 11,5º, fragrant, dry, velvety and has a gold-yellow colour when it matures.

The Quinta da Murta has excepcional wines from this region.
It's one of our finest white wines with a very small production level, and like the Colares wines, it will be a wine reserved for a few lucky and knowledgeable appraisers.

Tours in Alentejo

Thomas Reynolds winery

HISTORY In 1820, a British sailor and tradesman named Thomas Reynolds, cousin of Sir Joshua Reynolds, a famous painter and founder of The Royal Academy of Arts, together with his sons settled in Oporto, seduced by the wine business. In 1856 Robert Hunter, his second son moved to Estremoz, in the Alentejo in order to continue with his family tradition.Since then, several descendants of Thomas Reynolds have produced great wines with characteristics of our ancestors. I have produced this one which I gave my mother’s name Great-granddaughter of Robert Hunter Reynolds, in her honour and of all our ancestors who lived in the Alentejo

THE VINEYARD The hill upon which our 41 hectares (100 acres) of vineyard lie is crowned by cork oaks and crossed by a path landscaped with lavender hedges. The climate of this wet area favoured by the St. Mamede Mountains provides withextraordinary drainage and sun exposure conditions combined with a schist ground, ideal for vine cultivation. Here we grow the traditional varieties of the Alentejo: Trincadeira, Aragonés and Alicante Bouché. The last one, which  was introduced in the region by the Reynolds more than a century ago, provides our wines with a certain touch of identity.

THE WINE Bearing in mind the principle that the good wine is solely produced in the vineyard, our vines are farmed organically, under strict humidity controls, accompanied by green pruning of 50% of grapes when approaching their maturity in order to increase their quality. Grapes are harvested and selected by hand. Grapes ferment in wood according to their variety. Juice is separated from the skins to make two different types of young wine. Both are aged in large barrels during a period of 24 and 12 months and then for a similar time in the bottle. Gloria Reynolds is our first wine, of a limited production; an exclusive wine sold through our Members Club.

Book your wine tour now, and get to know these special places in Portugal.