"Twice awarded "Portuguese Wine Producer of the Year", the most coveted and prestigious distinction, by the most important Portuguese Wine Magazine, “Revista de Vinhos”.
Over 430 medals, including over 120 Gold medals, in competitions in 7 different countries."
Orientation
The Alves de Sousa winery is in the Douro region of Portugal. A unique landscape with the world’s first demarcated and regulated wine region (1756) and a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to the over 2,000 years of history producing wine by traditional landholders. The river Douro cuts through a mountainous landscape where over 250,000ha have been transformed into 45,000ha of steeply sloping terraced vineyards.
History
It is in the Douro Valley that the Alves de Sousa family produces wines according to a tradition of 5 generations. After joining the family business full-time in 1987 Domingos dedicated himself to the precise work of gathering and re-organising the vines. For many years the estate supplied some of the most famous and prestigious Port companies.
By the end of the eighties Domingos was determined to become a producer-bottler. He developed the ‘leftovers’ of the Port wine, as it was considered back then, which until then had had been traditionally forgotten in relation to the ‘generous’ wine’ (Port). He launched the family’s “Quinta da Gaivosa” winery where, from that day forward, the production of Gaivosa and other Quintas live.
Winemaking
Tiago Alves de Sousa officially joined the family team in the winery in 2002 after training in Agricultural Engineering and he is now responsible for the winemaking of all the family’s Douro and Port wines.
For the best wines, the best grapes. All the grapes used come from Alves de Sousa’s “Quintas” (estates) and exclusively from indigenous grape varieties. The vineyards take the central role in the development of the wines.
Today the vineyards cover approximately 135ha across 6 “Quintas”: Gaivosa, Vale du Raposa, Caldas, Estação, Aveleira, Oliveirinha. Due to the steep inclines and terraces of the vineyards all viticulture is performed by hand.
