Quinta Vale de Fornos
Quinta de Vale de Fornos has a long standing history in winemaking in the Tejo wine region.
Quinta Vale de Fornos is one of the most traditional producers in the Tejo wine region. It was the origin of the formation of the region, when it was constituted as such. Being very close to the “border” between the Lisbon and Tejo regions, it obviously receives influences from both regions, which allows the originality of the style of its wines, marked by some decisive Atlantic influence and hot summers, which may even be at the origin of the estate name (Fornos=Ovens).
The century-old winery built in the 18th century by D. Antónia Ferreira (Ferreirinha), to offer her daughter, at the time of her marriage to the 3rd Count of Azambuja, is made up of its famous stone mills, still in use today, but also by the impressive collection of large size wooden barrels.
Mostly due to its very particular orography, where the steep slopes coexist with some plains, where predominate clay-limestone soils and some sandstone-limestone outcrops, in a wealth of terroirs that allow the production of wines with very peculiar characteristics, always very rich.
Its vineyards are part of a variety of grape varieties very well adapted to these various “terroirs” where they dot indigenous and internationally renowned grape varieties such as Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon in reds or Chardonnay and Gewurstraminer in whites. We must not forget that one of the most iconic wines of this estate is precisely a Cabernet Sauvignon wine, which is recognized as one of the best examples of the variety in the national territory. But there are also some very Portuguese grape varieties such as Touriga Nacional, Castelão, Aragonês, Arinto, Verdelho or the traditional Fernão Pires, which found in Vale de Fornos soil and climate conditions to express its full potential and today integrate some of the best wines of this historic house.
A property with a rich history, where some charismatic figures of Portuguese history passed and tasted its famous wines.
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Sunny summer afternoons and cool, wet nights are one of the secrets to the perfection of maturation in Vale de Fornos, which enables the production of wines of great freshness and excellent acid structure, with great aptitude for extended aging for reds and enormous liveliness, freshness and persistence for whites.
The vineyard heritage is made up of some old vineyards over 50 years old and some younger, with the current administration planting about 20ha of new vineyards, where predominantly native grape varieties, already studied and which will surely find in Vale de Fornos a home to florish.
The great reds of the house are still vinified in the traditional stone mills with centuries of existence and where walking is the best method for the extraction of tannins in a soft but lasting way, producing wines of enormous potential to “ live ”many years in the bottle, thanks to its enormous acidity and tannins balance.
The wine stage takes place in the freshness of the farm’s historic winery, where the stone mills and large-capacity casks coexist in perfect harmony with the French oak barrels of the best cooperages where the reds make their stage before finally bottling.
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