Reguengo de Melgaço means ‘land of the royalty’. The estate was built by Queen Leonor & belonged to the Portuguese Royal Family in the 16th century. The Melgaço population was taxed on the winery’s production, and as a result, there are some very large “lagares” and “canastros” at the Quinta.
The property passed through the hands of several noble families in the region, but that ended in the 1990’s with the sale to the Cardadeiro family. They decided to buy and rebuild the farm, focusing on Alvarinho wine production and rural tourism.
In 1997, the Cardadeiro family got to work planting vines. The vineyards cover 7.5 hectares, planted 100% to Alvarinho, located along the River Minho, just a short distance from Galicia, Spain. The soil is light textured granite (alluvium) with low organic matter. The first vintage was made in 2001.
