MISSION
To honor all the work developed by our ancestors since the mid-nineteenth century in the production of high-quality Port and Douro wines, and to extend their notoriety in Portugal and abroad.
VISION
For the present and future, we want to maintain the tradition and quality of Douro Superior wines, with modernization and new production philosophies, we can surprise our consumers with wines that differ well and positively in an increasingly similar oenological world.
VALUES
We want all our work to be based on principles of quality, honesty and friendliness, bearing in mind the environmental protection and our workers interests.
With around 70 ha of vineyards, Quinta da Silveira in the Vilariça Valley, has 2 main types of soils. On the slope, behind the houses, granite shale, the valley land with alluvial soil, some sandy parts and the Quinta do Tourão, 6 km to the north, all vertical shale. All with different types of slope, profile, sun exposure and altitude, there are thus multiple "terroirs". The compass used is 2.20x1m. In the valley there is possibility of watering. In the soil between the lines, grasses and leguminous grasses are used for weed control, nitrogen supply to the soil and non-use of herbicides. The more recent vineyards have a unilateral rope driving, and the old vineyards are being changed to the same system.
In Quinta da Silveira and Quinta do Tourão, the chosen vine varieties are the most recommended for the production of Port wine and DOC Douro wine.
White grape Varieties: Rabigato, Códega do Larinho and Malvasia Fina, Viosinho, Gouveio, Arinto, Síria.
Red grape varieties: Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca, Tinta Amarela and Sousão.
The slabs used are mostly R110, some older vines have the R99, the Tinta Amarela 1103P, the wetter areas the SO4. Some of the plots of very old vineyards have castes together, but most plots have only one grape variety, allowing them to choose the most suitable maturations to be harvested, and vinified separately.
Quinta da Silveira's beautiful winery, built in 1879 all in granite, has in the upper part 7 "lagares", where winemaking takes place, with foot steps. It presents below the "lagares" a corridor with the pumps and thermal exchanger for wine cooling. In the part exposed to the North, with unevenness of one floor, there is the warehouse, where there are 10 wooden casks for Port wine. There are also french oak barrels for Douro wines and a cooling tank. Around the cellar there are 12 stainless steel vats, two of them thermals.
The oenology is delivered to two winemakers: Manuel Maria Martinho and Rodrigo Martins
Starting from different schools, the former, Agricultural Technician Course at the D. Dinis Agricultural School (83/86) and Continuing Education at the Faculté D'Oenologie of the University of Bordeaux (99/02), the latter, the Degree in Agricultural Engineering in the ISA, and support to numerous winemakers.
Both joined in 2006 the ISA Master Degree Course in Viticulture and Oenology in Lisbon, in partnership with FCUP of Oporto, which ended with the defense of their theses, under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Jorge Ricardo da Silva and Carlos Lopes, where besides a good friendship, created a working partnership with a mix of tradition and innovation, with excellent results in Quinta da Silveira viticulture and oenology.
António Caetano d'Oliveira is born in Torre de Moncorvo.
Already as King adviser, it acquires lands in the Vilariça Valley and creates the Quinta da Silveira in 1851.
In 1879 the warehouses and the granite cellar are constructed, as well as the first structure of the house of the property.
In 1914 the granddaughter of António Caetano d'Oliveira, Júlia Alice de Oliveira, inherits Quinta da Silveira. In that year, the marriage between Júlia de Oliveira and António Gonçalves Martinho, the son of a family from Peso da Régua, also happens to be landowners with a tradition in the production of Port wine. It was in this years that Quinta da Silveira saw a substantial increase with the increase of the house with elegant architecture and sui generis, improvement of the vines and development of milk and butter production. It was in this management that the property came to be electrified.
In 1973, Quinta da Silveira is inherited by the three grandchildren of Júlia de Oliveira Martinho due to the early death of her son. Between 1974 and 1978, Ana Maria Magalhães through her husband firstly, and then Tó-Zé Oliveira Martinho, managed Silveira in this transition period.
From 1979 Manuel Oliveira Martinho was in charge of property management, with the task of starting the restructuring of the vineyards, modernization of the winery, maintaining the basic characteristics of work in "lagares", recovery of vats, introduction of refrigeration, modernization of machinesand house recovery. He did the agricultural and oenological training that he needed for the good execution of his objective.
In this sense, the three brothers formed a family business, Sociedade Agrícola Vale da Vilariça, Lda., Maintaining Manuel Maria Oliveira Martinho as manager, aiming at the administration of the property.
Another property was associated with the management of Quinta da Silveira, Quinta do Tourão, also located in Vale da Vilariça.