CASA FERREIRINHA ESTEVA DOURO TINTO
This producer, founded in 1952, is named after the legendary Porto matriarch Dona Antónia Ferreira. Affectionately nicknamed 'Ferreirinha' by her countrymen, the house pays homage to her memory and was the first house in the region dedicated to making light wines. Purchased by Sogrape in 1987, it has 520 hectares of vineyard in the Douro in all of its three sub-regions: Lower Corgo, Upper Corgo and Douro Superior. The winemaking is headed up by Luís Sottomayor, who restrains the Douro’s natural exuberance to produce wines that have a freshness, like Esteva and Papa Figos, allied to a lovely depth and texture, as with Vinha Grande Tinto and Quinta da Leda.
The Esteva Douro Tinto is made primarily from grapes from the Quintas do Caêdo, Seixo and Porto estates, located in the Pinhão area, as well as grapes from surrounding areas at higher altitudes. The soil in the Douro Valley is made up of schist - a slate-like metamorphic rock that is poor in nutrients and has useful water retention properties. The poor quality of the soil forces the grapes to produce low yields but in turn very high-quality grapes.
