This quinta has been in family hands for 400 years. After taking over stewardship in 2003, Julia Kemper planted a 15 hectare vineyard in Dao varieties which is now organically certified. Both viticulture and winemaking are under the guidance of the ‘Vine and Wines’ team.

The resultant new winery is a brilliant modern adaptation of traditional Portuguese technology. After gutting the existing 19th century winery, a stylish gravity fed platform was built within the old granite walls. The original lagars were retained, but subdivided, allowing for small and large batches and inter-laced with stainless steel cooling rods to control fermentation temperatures. Large new, energy efficient, concrete tanks were built and supplemented with many smaller stainless steel tanks for small batch experimentation.

Kemper take a very clean, fresh approach to wines, I found all the wines I tasted there to be smartly made and true to form and their terroir. The whites are special, as the vineyards appear to tease out interesting aromatics while preserving good acidity.

View Julia Kemper wine notes here