A Quinta in the finest Portuguese tradition
Renowned for the quality of its terroir, in the heart of the Douro region most prized by the great Port producers, the Quinta da Côrte is now back in the business of bottling wines under its own name.
For many years, when it was owned by the local “Pacheco & Irmãos” families, the Quinta produced grapes and occasional batches of wine which it sold to major Port producers such as Delaforce, Croft, Taylor’s and Ramos Pinto. It cruised along, with good years and bad years, doing just enough to keep things in the family. Although it was supplying wines which were good enough to be included in the incredible variety of blends produced by the firms with which it had contracts, it lacked the resources to achieve the kind of independence which its great terroir merited and to develop its own range.
In 2012 Philippe Austruy, the owner of several domaines in France and abroad, was looking for a domaine in the Douro. When he went to look at the Quinta da Côrte, it was love at first sight. The buildings were in a lamentable state, and a chronic lack of maintenance was everywhere in evidence, but the potential of the property was clear to see. It took more than a year to come to an arrangement with a multitude of heirs before the purchase was finalised, but by the end of 2012 the work could begin. The vineyard and the wine store were the first receive attention, and for the 2013 vintage the Quinta da Côrte produced a Douro red which already displayed the excellence of the terroir.