"Our old vines have been lovingly spruced up and cared for; vines have also been replanted in the heart of the property to prepare for the future, offering a wider range of expression of the various different microclimates and individual terroirs at the Quinta." 

History

2004 – the present day: a new era

A group of passionate investors, joined by investment group IDI (currently the largest shareholder), acquired the property in 2004.

The management of the property was then entrusted to the well-known partnership of Christian Seely and Antonio Agrellos, who together have effected the well-documented renaissance of another great property, Quinta do Noval, over the past eighteen years. They are well known as having produced some of the most beautiful Vintage Ports to appear in recent years, but are also considered as being among the pioneers of the move to produce great unfortified red wines in the Douro. Christian has been able in this context to draw on his experience of managing the great Bordeaux red wine chateaux of Chateau Pichon Baron and Chateau Petit Village.

With Christian Seely as managing director – and a shareholder – of Romaneira, and Antonio Agrellos as consultant winemaker, a series of great Vintage Ports (2004, 2005, 2007, 2008) has been produced at Romaneira, as well as an outstanding Unfiltered Late Bottle Vintage 2005, with more LBVs to be released in future years.

But the real revolution at the property has been the production of outstanding unfortified wines, principally red, but also white and Rose, since 2004 in the wake of the "Douro Revolution" as expressed in our Vision.

The successes of our ports and wines on the national and international scene (see our prizes) would not be there without the painstaking work we did on our vineyard to further improve it and exploit all the potential of our terroir (see terroir and vineyard). Our old vines have been lovingly spruced up and cared for; vines have also been replanted in the heart of the property to prepare for the future, offering a wider range of expression of the various different microclimates and individual terroirs at the Quinta.

Romaneira’s past history

Romaneira has a very ancient history. Various theories exist as to the origins of its name, but we like to think that it dates back to the time when the Romans were present in the Douro, at which time they were certainly cultivating the vine here.

In any case, records exist of a vineyard here in the 17th and 18th centuries during which time the property successively belonged to the families of Sousa Guimaraes, whose initials appear on the gate of the Quinta with the date of 1854; of de Lacerda, Donna Clara de Lacerda having given her name to one of the two main quinta houses; and Monteiro de Barros, who enlarged the quinta to its present size in the 1940s.

As one of the principal quintas of the Douro, Romaneira of course appears on Baron Forrester's map of the Douro, and is mentioned by the great Port wine authors of the 19th century, such as Henry Vizetelly. The Viscount de Vila Maior writes of Romaneira as "one of the best in the Douro, remarkable for body, mellowness and aroma". Single Quinta Ports from Romaneira were auctioned by Christies in 1872, the very first of its kind to be sold in this way.

Remarkably, Vila Maior praises the character and personality of the wine of Romaneira due to the Touriga Nacional grape planted there: today Touriga Nacional still represents  the majority of the plantings at Romaneira (about 40%), and is a key element in our best wines, both for Vintage Port and for our top Douro red wines.