Quinta do Pinto - Prämiertes Weingut in Lissabon, Portugal

Two dreams dominated the life of the Portuguese António Afonso Cardoso Pinto for over a decade: he wanted to reunite the family under one roof in a rural area of Portugal and produce his own wines with them. His passion for the family and for winegrowing did not come by chance: five generations of the Cardoso Pinto family had dedicated themselves to wine production and had been farming in Portugal.
António Afonso Cardoso Pinto's dream came true: Today the family lives on the Quinta do Pinto in Merceana in the heart of the Lisbon wine region in a 17th century manor house about 80 kilometres north of the country's capital. In this region of Portugal there are still countless original villages with typical houses and whitewashed windmills. And as if interspersed with them, there are imposing manor houses, monumental churches and historic monasteries in the mountainous landscape. An area made for the cultivation of very special wines.
The Quinta do Pinto winery, founded in 2002, today owns around 200 hectares of land, 63 of which are under vine. 10 hectares alone are planted with white wine vines, and 19 Portuguese and international grape varieties grow over the remaining area, from which various varietal wines and cuvées are made. In the vineyard there is a great balance of red and white grapes. Among others, the varieties Arinto, Fernão Pires, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Miúda, Aragonez, Alfrocheiro, Marsanne, Roussanne, Viognier, Syrah and Merlot are cultivated.
The head of the family, António Cardoso Pinto, and winemaker Tiago Carvalho create white wines from the grapes at the Quinta do Pinto, which are among the best that Portugal has to offer. The winery of this ambitious family project is now managed by António Cardoso Pinto's eldest daughter Rita, who, together with her siblings Ana and Francisco, makes all important decisions concerning the winery. At the Quinta do Pinto, they work strictly according to the maxim: "The wine is made in the vineyard". The aim of the Quinta do Pinto is to offer unique and very high quality wines at an excellent price.
The unique terroir of the Quinta do Pinto in the Vale do Tejo plays into the cards of the Cardoso Pinto family. It offers optimal natural influences to create the best wines. The Quinta's vineyards are located 155 metres above sea level and benefit from a mild climate and an average annual rainfall of 700 millimetres. The nearby Serra de Montejuna keeps the rough Atlantic winds away from the vineyard. Thus, the vines thrive under optimal conditions with daytime temperatures of a maximum of 40 degrees Celsius and night-time temperatures of around 15 degrees. The soil is dominated by lime and chalk, which initially means stress for the vines. In the end, however, the special terroir of the Quinta do Pinto produces high-quality wines with ideal acidity.
Only the best grapes are processed. The harvest is always done by hand and in the cellar the work is done as traditionally as possible. The motto "less is more" prevails. Even the over 200-year-old play on words "For a wine of this quality you are happy to pay a Pinto (a little piece of gold) more" is still very important today in the philosophy of the family winery.
And the traditional way of working of the winemakers of the Lisbon wine region pays off in the end. Wine connoisseurs appreciate the exceptional wine creations of the Quinta do Pinto, such as the Viognier & Chardonnay, the Estate Collection Branco or Vinhas do Lasso Colheita Seleccionada Branco. Those who enjoy wines from Quinta do Pinto choose a wine company with high standards of quality.
With its winery, founded in 2002, the Cardoso Pinto family has come full circle. The wine-growing area around Alenquer has already been famous for its great wines in Portugal and Europe. The region's fine wines reached the pinnacle of fame at the London World Fair in 1890, and today the wines of the Lisbon wine region are back at the top of the international wine scene. Not least thanks to the efforts of regional producers like the Cardoso Pinto family.