Quinta Vale D. Maria Winery
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Until 1996, hardly anyone from outside the region had heard of Quinta do Vale Dona Maria, or Vale D. Maria for short. At that time, however, none other than Cristiano van Zeller acquired the winery and began to produce outstanding wines.
Alongside Dirk Niepoort, Cristiano van Zeller is certainly one of the most important winegrowers in the Douro region. He comes from an old port wine family. His grandfather founded the Sogrape company, which not only includes the port wine houses Ferreira, Offley, Robertson and Sandeman's, but also brands such as Mateus and Gazela.
Cristiano's career began in 1981, when he took over the management of the family winery Quinta do Noval. In 1993, the family sold the Quinta and Cristiano devoted all his energy to creating his own DOC for dry Douro wines. He was one of the first to recognise the potential of the grape varieties and vineyards for those wines that did not become port wines. He was later involved in the founding of the Quinta do Crasto and the Quinta do Vallado and, from 1996, took care of the Quinta Vale D. Maria, which had been in the family of his wife Joana Lemos for over 250 years, but in which there were inheritance disputes that were resolved by the purchase of the quinta. in 2017, the family sold the winery to Cristiano's cousins, the Guedes family, who have owned the important Aveleda winery in the Vinho Verde region for more than 150 years. However, they were able to retain Cristiano van Zeller as a long-term consultant to continue his work. He has moulded the Quinta Vale D. Maria into an excellent winery, which today is known above all for its red wines.
© Images: Quinta Vale D. Maria Winery
