New wines from old ground
Conceito wines is blend of a new producer in the Douro Superior, working with old growth vines. Young winemaker Rita Ferriera takes the grapes from her mother Carla Ferriera’s quintas, and gives the market some fresh new wines. With the influx of investors the Douro’s forgotten spots have undergone a revival, as is the case with the Teja valley: a remote area 30 years ago, has now become a lively and prosperous wine valley. The Teja is a tributary to the Douro River that flows through a valley of hills and mild climate, at an altitude between 300 and 400 meters. To the south lies the village of Cedovim and in the northern heights by the ancient Numão Castle, the valley forms a narrow, stony, 2 miles long plateau that provides a cool and mild microclimate . The family’s properties are dotted along this strip of land: the Quinta da Veiga, 20 metric acres on the long straight stretch of road at the entrance to the valley; the Quinta do Chão-do-Pereiro, around 20 metric acres in the northern heights with the Numão Castle as backdrop; and the Quinta do Cabido, so-named thanks to the sharp curve made by the river as it meets the slopes near the Douro, forming there a 23 metric acres natural amphitheatre. These are the families four vineyards, plus a 10 metric acres vineyard at the top of the valley where there’s some granite, used solely for whites. The first of the Conceito wines were made in 2005.
