Quintas de Melgaço, is a wine cellar, based on a social project that has been designed to support small wine growers. 90% of the families in the Melgaço region, i.e. around 540 families, plan their grape production, based on a QM purchase operation. With this symbiosis, the entire Melgaço region is in a bottle of wine, and these families have their production guaranteed.
We have the 3 types of soil represented in this wine: alluvium - with gravel and sand; 200 to 400 metres - with granite; and above 400 metres with richer soils. It is in the sub-region of Monção and Melgaço that Alvarinho reveals and reaches the maximum of its potential, in a unique territory, for natural reasons related to the soil and the microclimate.
With a specific temperature and climate linked to the continental influence creates a perfect microclimate. This region is protected from the Atlantic by the Faro Mountain, which contributes to its specificity and homogeneity.
In the process of winemaking, Quintas de Melgaço follows the oenological traditional methods and practices considered the most appropriated for this subregion which contribute to extract all the quality of the grapes that arrive to the wine cellar. It’s in this stage that Quintas de Melgaço grants identity to its wines. Before the wine bottling, the experts make sure that the wine presents a correct chemical composition, is properly clear and presents qualities in tasting tests.
For certification, the wine is submitted at the Green Wines Region Viticulture Commission’s lab, which, after the approval, issues the Quality Seal or Approval Seal.
QM is concerned about the bottle and cork’s quality that’s why their wines are the ones who have the best evolution in bottle and the best performance in glass. All the stages of production process are controlled by the Food Safety System, according to the ISO 22000: 2005, which supervises all the process since the reception of the grapes in the wine cellar to the final product.
The Alvarinho is one of Portugal’s greatest treasures.It is considered by recognized experts as the best Portuguese white grape and one of the best grapes in the world.