The Granvinhos company, owned by entrepreneur Jorge Dias, continues to invest in wine in Portugal, now extending its influence to the Lima valley to produce 30 hectares of Loureiro and Alvarinho at Quinta de São Salvador da Torre, acquired by the group at the end of April.
Wine production in the space, located in Torre, a parish in the municipality of Viana do Castelo, is currently led by the experienced winemaker from Monção Anselmo Mendes, who will remain at the helm “for the next few years”, as this is the will of the new owner. from the farm.
Negotiations in Viana do Castelo took months
Granvinhos’ negotiations with the company Agromar, of Grupo Soja de Portugal, which owned the farm in Viana do Castelo that has now been purchased, took months, said in a statement the director of Granvinhos, Jorge Dias.
[A quinta de Sto. Isidoro] benefits from the sea breeze characteristic of the entire Lima Valley, in an extraordinary soil and climate situation, especially taking into account the climate changes that viticulture is facing
Jorge Dias, general director of Granvinhos
“This is an agricultural property with 30 hectares of vineyards of the Loureiro and Alvarinho varieties, facing south, benefiting from the sea breeze characteristic of the entire Lima Valley, in an extraordinary soil and climate situation, especially taking into account climate changes with that viticulture is confronted”, stresses the group in a statement.
With more than 400 years of existence, and popularly known as Quinta de Santo Isidoro, the space also has a manor house dating from 1685.
On the same note, Jorge Dias says he believes in the future of Vinho Verde, in particular the “Alvarinho and Loureiro grape varieties, a product very well adapted to new times and consumption habits”.
For the entrepreneur, however, the region needs to be valued “due to its connection to the respective production areas, as well as to the Atlantic diet, in which Portugal has a unique offer”, says Jorge Dias.
Jorge Dias explains that this farm was explored by Agromar in partnership with Anselmo Mendes, something that the entrepreneur intends to keep “in the coming years”.
The group points out that this will be “the first joint project between that winemaker and Jorge Dias, general director of Granvinhos, something that both have aspired to for more than 30 years”.
It also announced a new wine from that Loureiro 2024 variety, as well as the requalification from the patrimonial point of view.
Investments in 2023 and new technology cellar in Régua
In recent months, this group that formerly used the name Gran Cruz and in 2018 exported 30 million bottles of Port wine to 50 countries, earning 90 million euros a year, has substantially expanded its operations and presence in various wine regions of the country.
Prior to this investment in Minho, one of those steps, taken in January of this year, was the acquisition of 60% of the company Vicente Faria Vinhos, the second largest exporter of Douro wine in the world.
He also bought the Borlido Cellars, in Albergaria, selling two liqueurs, the famous “Amêndoa Bitter” and “Licor de Ginja”. Currently, annual sales exceed one million bottles of these two liqueurs.
After also incorporating the Companhia União dos Vinhos do Porto e Madeira, it changed its name to Granvinhos.
The Granvinhos company is also included in the Recovery and Resilience Plan, through the creation of a winemaking and storage center in Régua, district of Vila Real, adapting it to the production of Douro wine and Port wine. It will be a kind of futuristic winery that will cost 20 million euros and will start working with the harvest in 2024.
Who is Jorge Dias?
An agronomist by profession, Jorge Dias has been the general manager of Granvinhos since 2009. With notable entrepreneurial characteristics in the area of enology, he was a driving force behind the creation of the Enology course at UTAD, where he was a professor at the beginning of his career.
Early on, in 1993, he founded the Port Wine Institute in the Douro, also creating a Port Wine Route, which is now much appreciated in terms of tourism and using various means of transport (boat, train, on foot).
At the turn of the century, he was an important element in classifying the Douro as a World Heritage Site, being invited by the Government to be part of the Secretariat for Regional Development.
He was also an expert on the Advisory Committee “Viticulture et Boissons Spiritueuses”, of the European Commission.