The Douro Valley may be most famous for Port, but that is far from being its only great contribution the world of wine; too few people realise how good and how good value the table reds and whites made in the valley can be.

Quinta do Vale Meao was founded in the 1870s by one Antonia Ferreira, who dreamed of creating a model vineyard from nothing. It took her 8 years. Six generations later, the estate remains in the hands of her descendants.

But that is not to say nothing has changed. In the 1980s, some of the vineyards were flooded as a result of the building of Valeira dam, and a major replanting and reconversion programme took place. Many of the new vineyard single vine plantings were of Touriga Nacional, which at that time had been almost abandoned for non-port winemaking since it is hard to cultivate and only offers low yields. The counterpoint to those low yields, however, can be a juice of quality and complexity and, as Quinta do Vale Meao has proven, wines of beauty and wines of terroir. (NT 19/03/15)