240 Port anD the Douro
help for a number of years, employed Sandra Tavares de Silva as winemaker. Vintage
Ports, all foot trodden in the traditional manner, are declared most years on the Bordeaux
chateau principle. They are mid-weight, fine, well balanced and usually offer great value
for money.
Quinta do Vale Meão
F. Olazabal & Filhos Lda
Quinta do Vale Meão
5150 – 501 Vila nova de Foz côa
tel. (351) 279 762 156
Francisco (‘Vito’) Olazabal is no stranger to the Port business, having been Managing
Director of the Port shipper Ferreira until he retired to take charge of his own property
in 1999. In the past Quinta do Vale Meão has supplied both Ferreira and Taylor but the
Olazabals, father and son, are now making some fine Douro wine and opulent vintage
Ports. Vintages are also shipped under the name of Whytinghams.
Quinta do Vesúvio
c/o Symington Family Estates
travessa Barão de Forrester, 86, apartado 26, 4431-901 Vila nova de Gaia
tel: (351) 223 776 300
http://www.symington.com
The Symington family bought this stately quinta from the Ferreiras in 1989 and turned
Vesúvio into an independent shipper in its own right. There was much to be done to
restore the property which extends to over 400 hectares and includes a twenty-three-
bedroom house, much the largest in the Douro. The eight granite lagares (each with a
capacity of twenty-five pipes) are some of the most impressive in the region and have
been equipped with an ingenious cooling system, very necessary in this part of the
Douro. Under the legislation, as well as being made on site, all the wine must be aged
and bottled on the property. The armazém has therefore been restored and the old olive
oil bins have been modified to store bottles of Port, with air-conditioning installed to
maintain a constant temperature over the summer months. The 132 hectares of vineyard
on the property produce around 800 pipes, of which around 3,000 cases are bottled as a
vintage Port in all but the poorest years (1993 and 2002). The first Vesúvio vintage was
- Despite its relatively short track record, the Symingtons have established Quinta
do Vesúvio as one of the leading properties in the Douro making red wine as well as
outstanding vintage Port.