quinta de santiago
Joana Santiago
monção e melgaço
Minho, vinho verde - portugal
story…
For over 100 years, dating back to the late 1800’s, the Santiago family has lived, owned & farmed in what is now known as the Vinho Verde region of northern Portugal. For a great majority of that time the family was focused on farming grapes, olives, lupine, cereals, & fruit for self-consumption or in the case of the grapes to produce wine for the bulk market. They also raised livestock for milk & meat for self-consumption. In 2009 a not so radical idea came from an unlikely source, the 86 year old Mariazinha Santiago (Grandma) challenged her children & grandchildren to take the family assets to create a boutique winery under the family name. The goal was simple, to showcase the ability of the local varieties, namely Alvarinho, ability to produce world-class wines worthy of any wine lovers attention. With just a little over a decade of focus on the now family estate/label, Quinta de Santiago, it is accurate to say that grandma Mariazinha had the right idea in pushing her children & grandchildren in this new direction.
Today the the family business is under the guidance of the Mariazinha’s granddaughter, Joana Santiago. Joana had a promising career as a lawyer prior to returning to the family estate to follow the push of her grandmother, a choice she does not regret in the slightest. She is the driving heart beat of the estate & the face of the company nationally & internationally. Along side Joana is an tight knit team of mostly family members who take care of all the aspects of the estate. Her parents, José & Arcelina are still very involved in the day to day workings, along with Joana’s husband Ricardo. The winemaking is overseen by Abel Codesso, who has over 25+ years of winemaking experience under his belt & was a pioneer in the production of sparkling Alvarinho. Along with Abel, Nuno Mira do Ó also helps to oversee all the wine production at Santiago, Nuno operates an incredible estate just south in the Dão & also has a collaboration label with Joana called Sou, which is produced with fruit from & at Quinta de Santiago. Cellar management is coordinated by Márcia Lourenço, & the vineyard work is overseen by Eng. Garrido who works closely with Joana’s father for all vineyard decisions.
The family still maintains a large swath of land dedicated to olive groves for olive oil, as well as grains, vegetables, fruit & grazing land for livestock. In many ways the estate is the idyllic version of what most people think of when they picture a family estate in some distant foreign land, a vision that is not always true, but at Quinta de Santiago it is that & more.
farming & Philosophy…
All the farming at the estate is done following organic practices & a keen eye on sustainability. Joana dedicates a significant amount of time & effort towards sustainable & biodiversity efforts, going as far as organizing & leading a group of regional growers to work together on solutions for water use & the preservation of the local resources. They co-plant native species of plants throughout the vineyards to attract pollinating insects. They use the byproducts of wine production; skins, leaves, pruned vines, etc… along with other by products of the farm to produce their own compost for the estate.
Wine production is simple & pure, no gimmicks are trickery used. Fermentations are done on ambient/native yeasts & they use gentle pressing practices to ensure purity of fruit. Ferments take place in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks & most of the aging at the estate is also done in stainless steel tanks. They do have some French oak barrels & a few amphora that are used for other wine project produced by the family.
Vineyards…
The estate consists of a total of 7.5 hectares of vines planted in clay heavy, loam soils at between 70 to 100 meters above sea level. The vineyards lie on gentle sloping hills with predominantly southern facing exposures. They are situated in the sub-region of Monçäo e Melgaço at the very northern reaches of the Vinho Verde appellation. Situated against the River Minho to the north, the diving river between Portugal & Spain, with mountains to the east & the Atlantic ocean to the west. Due to its proximity to both the River Minho & the Atlantic this part of the Vinho Verde tends to have a bit more ocean spray/mist influence than other parts of the Vinho Verde. The overarching climate of the region can be described as being a temperate Atlantic climate with continental influence.
The majority of the vineyards are dedicated to the Alvarinho grape, one of the two primary white grapes for the production of traditional Vinho Verde whites. Along with Alvarinho they also have plantings of Loureiro, Arinto & Trajadura, the other primary white grapes of the region. They also have a hand full of red varieties planted on the estate, obviously in much smaller proportions; including: Tinta Roriz, Touriga Naçional, Alvarelhão, Borraçal, Cainho & Vinhào
