Quinta de la Rosa Finest Reserve, Douro, Portugal, Porto

Quinta de la Rosa has been in the Bergqvist family since 1906, although they have been in the port trade as shippers under the family name, Feueheerd since 1815. Nowadays Sophia Berqvist runs the domain. It currently has around 55 hectares under vine and produces around 50,000 litres of port and 160,000 litres of wine each year.

Quinta de la Rosa was given as a christening present for Claire Feueheerd, Sophia's grandmother, in 1906. The family port shipping company, Feueheerd, was sold in the 1930s but La Rosa was kept and run by Sophia's grandmother, Claire. In 1988 Sophia and her father, Tim Bergqvist, decided to restart the family business and launched Quinta de la Rosa as a top quality port producer onto the market place.

Quinta de la Rosa is situated in Northern Portugal, 100kms inland from Oporto. It is set in the heart of the Alto Douro, A-grade, port growing area and is located along the banks of the river, near Pinhão.

This Port is made from the traditional port varieties, mainly Touriga Nacional, Touriga Francesa, Tinta Barroca and Tinta Roriz. It is made each year in the traditional manner trodden in granite lagares from grapes grown at Quinta de la Rosa. The Finest Reserve is then blended from their stocks of Port to produce a consistent quality, this blending occurs on a regular basis to ensure that stocks are always fresh.

Ports from each year are stored and matured in their own lodge and it is from these stocks that they blend their Finest Reserve. The average age of the port in the Finest Reserve blend is about 6-7 years. Unlike most port shippers, all products are stored and bottled in the Douro (at La Rosa and not Porto), allowing full traceability and ensuring quality from grape to bottle.