Quinta dos Murças

Led by agronomist José de Freitas Sampaio, Quinta dos Murças was totally transformed, with the first vertically planted vineyard in the Douro (1947) and the first self-vinification system ever used in the region, new aging warehouses and a new winery.

Quinta dos Murças remained in the same family until 2008, when the Esporão group bought the property from Manuel Pinto de Azevedo’s great-grandchildren, taking over the day-to-day running of one of the most interesting estates of the Cima-Corgo area. The Quinta is ideally positioned to produce Douro table wines and port, two of Portugal’s finest and best-known wines.

It has around 300,000 vines, planted vertically and on terraces. Occupying land at 300 m altitude and in areas closer to the broad river front, the vineyards enjoy different sun exposures. In addition to the vineyards, there are about 6,000 olive saplings, a grove with 800 orange, tangerine, lemon and other fruit trees, as well as about 88 hectares of classified forest.

Located in the center of DOC Douro, it is characterized for its 8 terroirs, very marked by mountains, different altitudes and sun exposures, schist soils and the characteristic climate of the Douro valley. In the vineyards, dozens of indigenous grape varieties were planted, according to Organic Production and Integrated Production. The olive, orange, almond and Mediterranean forests help maintain the balance of the ecosystem.