Port anD the Douro 115Quinta dos Aciprestes
soutelo do douro, 5130 são João de Pesqueira
Grade a
Quinta dos Aciprestes can easily be identified from the six cypress trees that stand near the
main house and give the property its name. The quinta was established in the late eighteenth
century by Dom José de Seabra, a minister of Maria I. Since the 1860s, Aciprestes has
been an agglomeration of several properties and includes the adjoining Quinta da Boa
Vista which used to be part of the Ferreira empire. It now extends for nearly 2 kilometres
along the river Douro opposite Tua. Aciprestes now belongs to Real Companhia Velha
who completely transformed this property in the 1990s. The vineyard is now completely
mechanised and 90 per cent of it is vertically planted.
Quinta do Zimbro
Ribalonga, 5140 carrazeda de ansiães
Grade a
There are two Zimbros, one belonging to Calços de Tanha and producing Douro wine, the
other supplying Dow. Zimbro (meaning ‘Juniper’) used to belong to Silva & Cosens and
continues to form an important part of Dow’s vintage lote. The vineyards are divided from
the old house and chapel by the railway line that runs past the front door and many of the
old terraces below the house have been lost to the river.
Quinta do Castelinho*
Valeira, 5130 são João de Pesqueira
tel. (351) 254 320 100
Grade a
Quinta do Castelinho is the last property in the Cima Corgo before reaching the Douro
Superior. Since 1848 the property has incorporated a number of old quintas including
Padrão, Azenha, Vau and Pelão, all of which appear on Forrester’s map. In 1969 Castelinho
was bought by Manuel António Saraiva and, although the fifty-hectare property still
produces a single-quinta Port, it lends its name to a shipper of Port and Douro wines.
Quinta do Castelinho itself is situated in a sheltered bacia (hollow), which favours the
production of big, concentrated wines.
From Valeira to Pocinho
A huge outcrop of granite extending from Carrazeda de Anziães in the north to Sebadelhe
and Touça on the altos south of the Douro divides the Cima Corgo from the Douro Superior.
Above the Barragem da Valeira (Valeira dam), the river is shackled by the granite which
rises to form a precipice over 500 metres above sea level on either side. No one has ever
attempted to cultivate this stretch of the Douro and the crags above the river are the preserve
of wild birds. At Ferradosa the schist returns and there is even a small hamlet on the south
side of the Douro named São Xisto (Saint Schist). Until the river was made navigable in
the late eighteenth century (see page 16), the Douro Superior was remote and inaccessible.