Quinta do Espinho, Cardanhos, Soc. |
Quinta do Espinho Quinta do Espinho is a ""Quinta"" with an area of 20 hectares (200.000 m2) on the mouth of the river Távora with the left bank of the river Douro, at the heart of Alto Douro Wine Region of Douro Valley, in the so called sub-region of the “above Corgo”, where the majority of the most famous port wine estates called “quintas” are located. The Alto Douro Wine Region is considered to be one of the most beautiful vineyard territories in the world. It was awarded by Unesco Humanity World Heritage in 2001. The history of the ""Quinta"" dates back to the first Old World wine region, officially laid out by order of the Marquis de Pombal, former Prime Minister of Portugal in 1756. In the mid 80's, Joaquim Peres Ventura, “duriense” (wine grower at the Douro region) and grandson of Vitor Macedo Pinto, member of the ""Paladinos do Douro"" movement, restructured the estate, introducing deep changes, modern terraces, the best varieties and new approach to vineyard plantations in Douro. Modern terraces can, however, cause a number of new environmental problems. On Quinta do Espinho vineyards we practice a sustainable vineyard model that consists of planting only a single row on each terrace, allowing mechanical treatments and avoiding the use of toxines. Besides, the vineyard is surrounded by natural plethora of native species to promote soil activity, nursery practices that lead to our terroir wines shared with nature, including the provision of nesting aids to birds, bees and honey production and all native insects, the cultivation of cover crops or secondary crops between vines. Being a modern vineyard, we have selected tth best red grape varieties, planted in plots, to match the vineyard to a variety of different growing conditions that produces its best results in our north facing slopes topography. Planted are Touriga Franca (35%), Touriga Nacional (25%), Tinta Roriz (17%), Tinta Barroca (10%), Tinta Francisca (5%), Alicante Bouschet (5%) and Tinto Cão (3%). Although the closed relationship with the traditional brands of Port wine, namely Taylor's, the aim of the Quinta do Espinho is the production, bottling and marketing of our own wines with our own grapes. |