Port anD the Douro 87Ribatejo and Bairrada (as Maria Gomes) but is not a big player in the Douro. Planted on
the altos around Lamego, it is used in the Douro for both sparkling wines and white Port. It
produces a vaguely spicy wine sometimes characterised by sub-tropical fruit.
esgana cão
Known in the Douro (and Bucelas) as the ‘dog strangler’ because of its ferociously high
levels of natural acidity, Esgana Cão is none other than Sercial (not to be confused with
Cerceal) grown on Madeira.
Folgosão
The same grape as Terrantez, which was planted in mainland Portugal as early as the sixteenth
century and subsequently found its way to Madeira. On Madeira, where Terrantez is now
almost extinct, the grapes are highly prized for their sweetness and astringency.
donzelinho Branco
A low-yielding variety that, like Donzelinho Tinto, has fallen from favour in the Douro but
is still occasionally found in old interplanted vineyards.
an introDuCtion to the quinta
The building block of the Douro is the quinta. Applied to everything from a modest farm to a
large country estate, this is a word that almost defies translation and is probably best thought
of merely as an area of agricultural land. It is impossible to quantify the number of quintas in
the Douro, but suffice to say that in 2011 there were 34,000 growers in the Douro, farming
over 142,000 holdings. The average hectarage per grower is 1.32 and the average number of
plots per farmer amounts to 4.2. However, 94 per cent of these plots are less than one hectare
in area, and just 0.15 per cent of holdings are in excess of ten hectares.
The popular image of a Douro quinta has come about because of trade and tourist visits
to some of the more grandiose properties belonging to the major Port shippers. These
estates, usually between 30 and 150 hectares in extent, account for just 0.01 per cent
of the total number of holdings in the Douro and their overall importance is therefore
exaggerated. Most of the larger properties belonging to the shippers in the Douro are an
amalgam of a number of small quintas that have been acquired and bolted on over time.
Looking up from the river at some of the great Douro estates, you will see the carcases of a
number of well-positioned houses which were once at the hub of their own small domain
but have now been forsaken in favour of the main dwelling on the property.
Most Douro quintas are modest properties with an adega (winery), armazém (wine
store) and rustic dwelling all combined within a single structure. The building is
invariably built into the terraced slope with the stone lagares on the upper level draining
into the wooden toneis in the armazém below. The living area is typically located above the