If nothing else the figures at Quinta dos Roques should add up, since both Luis and Maria Lourenco were maths lecturers before her father persuaded them to take over the family estate. That was in 1990 and since then the couple has presided over enormous changes and much research into the local varieties. But as Luis says, since they stopped being a mixed farm and concentrated on winegrowing they can see exactly which part of the business is loss-making!

Luis had to put up with a lot of resistance when he arrived in Abrunhosa do Mato with his scientific, rational and curious approach to learning about grape growing, harvesting and winemaking. Dao is historically a region producing blends, so when he introduced his single varietal wines he was accused of being an upstart and a know-it-all though as he said, I was just trying to get a handle on how these different grapes work. A large part of his work is observing how his vines work in the vineyard and those in mixed plantings – old fashioned field blends are noticeably more disease resistant and harmonise their growing season better. Varieties that grown in isolation ripen weeks apart are closer when grown intermingled. The wines are classic Dao, with their freshness coming from the altitude – higher than the Douro.

But Luis is a modest and immensely engaging man and seems to have won his critics over. His wines have certainly been impressing us and our customers over the last few years and his abilities and hard won knowledge of his raw materials all contribute to this estate’s success. (CW 30/10/19)