Our story began at many points in history. Most recently, when João Freitas, a craftsman who’s made a living creating beauty from his bare hands, decided to return to his roots in Portugal. There he started from scratch by acquiring Salgueiros, an ailing 4-hectare parcel near the top of the valley, which he then rejuvenated, re-plotted and re-planted with indigenous white varietals.
It was with much fortune that shortly thereafter João had the opportunity to acquire Quinta Sanradela Velha, a sprawling 36 hectare estate dating back several centuries, but also in need of rehabilitation. Work began rapidly to restore the vinyards and adapt the property into our first production Quinta. It was joined in 2023 by Quinta Do Fatinho, another historic 14-hectare property near the base of the valley, rich with old vines and winemaking culture.
Hectare Estate
Hectares of Vines
Hectares of Olive Groves
Meters in Elevation
With a combined 27 hectares of vines and 12 hectares of olive groves under his control, João now enjoys the freedom to work the fields and pursue his love of craftsmanship in the most pure and natural of settings.
Together with his brother, sister and brother-in-law, João and his family are proud to share their first collection of unique wines, produced by a most unique location. At Quinta Sanradela Velha, situated at 500 meters in elevation, each wine gracefully retains its minerality from the region’s fertile schist soil and the layer of stone beneath. It produces a taste available nowhere else.
In truth though, our story also begins long before João’s return home. The antiquated stone church on the hill of Quinta Sanradela Vehlha indicates the grounds there have been cultivated since at least 1758. And the discovery of several ancient Roman lagars and structures suggests winemakers bore the fruits of the earth there even earlier.
Today, use of the rectangular stone vats is a cornerstone of our most traditional vinification process, which also includes foot treading of the grapes, offering an undeniable rich taste of history.
At Quinta Sanradela Velha we focus on crafting the lowest intervention wines possible and recently began the formal process of converting the estate’s 13 hectares of vineyards to organic production. The result is a branco, rosé and tino traditionally crafted the way they’re meant to be, each delivering a pure, natural representation of our terroir that tastes precisely the way it’s supposed to.