The Amorim family have been involved in wine since 1870, when they first negotiated sales of cork to the Caves do Vinho do Porto, in Vila Nova de Gaia. Today they are one of the most renowned family groups in Portugal with businesses in many countries and with many different lines of activity.
Since 1999, the fourth generation of the family is now involved in wine through the hands of Luisa Amorim, working in renowned Quintas where wines and vineyards have ancestral roots of cultural importance in the Douro, at Quinta Nova de Nossa Senhora do Carmo and now in the Dão, at the Taboadella estate, creating wines of extraordinary quality, with a sense of place.
Taboadella consists of 40 hectares of vineyards lying between Vale do Pereiro and the Vale do Sequeira, in a high triangular plateau of 400 - 530 m altitude, with gentle slopes towards the Southeast, and a sunny exposition to the south and west. The mountain chains protect the vineyard from the Atlantic weather and the bitter winds from Spain, resulting in a microclimate perfectly located where maritime and continental influences meet. The autumn equinox brings a marked change to the weather, and generally, there are heavy rains and sometimes frost to greet the end of Spring.
The vineyards are not irrigated, maintaining traditional qualities and typicity in the 18 parcels in an ‘integrated’ system, characterized by a planting density of 3500 plants per hectare and a median production of 4000 kg per hectare. In the 1980s the vineyard was partially replanted, with Tinta Roriz and Encruzado, Cereal-Branco and Borrado das Moscas (Bical) being introduced. Today the average age of the vines is 30 years, but we still have some that are more than 100!
