As we experience the Douro, as we feel the throbbing of the vineyards going along what was once considered the best and most beautiful road in the world for driving enthusiasts, we look at the slopes on either side and recognise some of the most famous names of farms and Douro and Port wine brands. Right in the middle of this road between Régua and Pinhão, in Adorigo already in the municipality of Tabuaço, we come across Quinta do Pôpa.
Despite the project's youth, it is located in one of the noblest areas of the region, with several of the Douro's great and historic names in the vicinity.
Pôpa was the nickname of Francisco Ferreira, the bastard of a great Douro farmer, who lived his life without being recognised as a son or brother. His greatest dream was to have a piece of land in the Douro, where he could produce his own wine. He couldn't make it come true, but it was one of his sons, José Ferreira, known as Zeca do Pôpa who made it come true. It was a saga fed by faith and determination, and finally the dream came true.
At the age of 16, José emigrated to France in order to give a decent life to his mother and brothers, a boy and a very young girl. He fought to the limit of his strength, but he never gave up, because he always believed that the dream commands life! On his return to Portugal, he invested in the Douro and in 2003 bought Quinta do Vidiedo (then christened Quinta do Pôpa).
As a collective desire of generations, Pôpa dreamed, his son Zeca materialized, his grandchildren Stéphane and Vanessa Ferreira, are the managers and faces of Quinta do Pôpa.
Vanessa and Stéphane continue to dream and to create new dreams in a very particular and unique way, under the motto - Dream > Create > Celebrate, - that assures them a permanent restlessness and irreverence, an endless whirl of concepts and disruption without ever jeopardizing the quality of their nectars.
The production of wines happened later, in two phases: in 2007 for family and friends, made under the guidance of Luís Pato, a well-known oenologist and friend of the family who, certainly, intentionally or not, passed on some of his recognised irreverence.
In 2010, the sale of the wines becomes a goal and soon after, in 2012, there is the bet on wine tourism, of innovative offer and much praised by those who experience it.
The estate is a true wine-growing jewel. It has 30 hectares, 14 of which are vines, all A-rated, the highest classification attributed to vines in the region. It has only red grapes, with emphasis on the four hectares of old vines, over 80 years old and where 22 grape varieties are present. Besides its own grapes, it promotes the development of the local agricultural community, acquiring grapes from other farmers every year, always under the monitoring and technical control of the viticulture and oenology team, so that quality is guaranteed.
Their wines combine tradition and innovation, where the treading is done by foot in granite presses, supported by technology in the winery. They seek to ensure that their wines express a "true sense of place".
The wines, besides the classic ranges, highlight the exploration of the remarkable possibilities that the richness of the estate affords them: varietal wines, single-varietal wines, old vines, even the 'Pôpa Vinho Tinto Doce' (the first sweet red wine produced in the Douro).
The irreverence, the tribute, the homage, are always present, from the project 'Pôpa Art Projects' to the "Tribute Wines" to the most recent launches of contemporary inspiration, which under the motto "Dare to Dream", show an experimental line of wines from which result in the first edition a tanning white and two amphora, a white and a red. These are the first wines, to be followed by others that fulfil the profiles idealised by Stéphane Ferreira, now in partnership and harmony with the talented Carlos Raposo, the new oenologist of Quinta do Pôpa.
From the greatest challenges the tastiest works are made, as they state on the labels: "Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations".
