116 Port anD the Douro
All the properties upriver from Valeira therefore date from the nineteenth century or later.
Cockburn and Taylor have long favoured this stretch of the river and, since the 1980s, the
Symington family have also gained ground. This is the so-called Terra Quente, hot land of
Trás-os-Montes. Travelling east from Ferradosa, the climate becomes much more arid with
annual rainfall starting at 600mm and falling to 400mm or less upriver from Pocinho.
Short, sheltered tributaries like the narrow valleys of the Ribeira da Uceira and Ribeira de
Murça have mesoclimates of their own.
Quinta da Ferradosa
Ferradosa, 5140 carrazeda de ansiães
Grade a
Situated on the inlet that forms the mouth of the Ribeira da Ferradosa, the western part of
Quinta de Ferradosa lies on granite. When the property was sold by Real Vinicola to Cálem
in the early 1990s (without any benefício) every vine on the property, including an ancient
pergola shading the chicken coop, had been spitefully sawn off just above the roots! A new
vineyard has now been planted on the schist east of the inlet. Although the railway almost
passes the front door, Ferradosa is one of most isolated properties in the Douro and the best
way to reach the quinta is by boat.
Quinta do Cachão
Ferradosa, 5130 são João de Pesqueira
Grade a
Cachão means a ‘rush of water’ and although this is one of the closest quintas to the former
rapids of Valeira, it was not one of the first properties to be planted when the river became
navigable. Quinta do Cachão was laid out in 1845 by the Barão do Seixo and subsequently
acquired by the Cabral family. It was then purchased, in a poor state, by Port shippers
Messias in 1956. Two years later it was joined by the adjacent Quinta do Rei (bought from
Gonzalez Byass) and this now forms the heart of the property. Messias have their own adega
and armazém on site, and wines from Quinta do Cachão form the basis for vintage Ports,
colheitas and Douro wines.
Quinta de Vargellas
Vale da Figueira, 5130 são João de Pesqueira
Grade a
With its own impeccably maintained railway station, Vargellas has developed into a self-
contained community high in the Douro Superior. It was established in the early 1800s,
and by the 1830s had gained a reputation for the quality of its wines. For much of the
nineteenth century a significant part of the property belonged to the Ferreira family until
three quintas bearing the name of Vargellas were merged into one by Taylor, Fladgate &
Yeatman between 1893 and 1896. Between 1993 and 1999 Taylor’s added the 41-hectare
Quinta do São Xisto, which lies alongside the hamlet with the same name. Curving with the
river, Vargellas forms an extremely impressive property and, although not the largest of their
vineyards, is treated by the Fladgate Partnership as their flagship estate. Vargellas produces