"I first came into contact with the Douro Valley and Quinta do Crasto in 1962. That's when I married Leonor Guedes de Almeida, whose grandfather Constantino de Almeida had been founder of the famed Constantino Port house.
Since then, Quinta do Crasto has become my life's work. The last fifty years have brought me immense joy, but as in any great passion, great sacrifices as well.
In 1994 we began to bottle and sell our own Douro wines. Soon afterwards we began marketing Porto wines from Quinta's stocks, beginning with the 1978 Vintage Port. At about the same time, I was able to start sharing this passion with my three children – Miguel, Tomás and Rita – whose hard work and energetic commitment have helped Quinta do Crasto earn its eminent position on the global wine map.
We started by investing in the vineyards themselves – the central component to producing quality wines. We have recently added 35 hectares of new plantings. Next, we turned our attention to the remodeling of the winery and storage facilities and we also built a new cellar to house our oak barrels.
In response to the growing global interest in the Douro wines, we decided to invest even further and bought an estate in Upper Douro, Quinta da Cabreira."