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João Mariano, Engº Agrónomo
João Mariano
agronomist engineer
The company led by João Mariano, Engº Agronomo (Instituto Superior de Agronomia), began its wine-growing activity in 2000/2001 with the planting of vines in 3 different estates in terms of their “terroir” (soil, climate and surrounding environment), totaling 21.5 hectares. João Mariano has dedicated his entire professional life to Algarve Agriculture, namely to Irrigation, with a postgraduate degree in Israel, to irrigated fruit growing and in the last 20 years to Viticulture, with a specialization in Viticulture and Enology in Warm Climates, obtained in Jerez de la Frontera.
The company's initial objective was the production of grapes to supply the Adegas Cooperativas de Lagoa and Lagos. Certified plant material was used both in national and imported varieties from France, Petit Verdot, Syrah, Alicante Bouchet and "Aragonez" (Tinta Roriz) having selected qualitative clones to the detriment of productive ones. Faced with the economic difficulties of these cooperatives, it had to take a new direction and start producing quality wines (Vinhos de Quinta) in a region ancestrally linked to vines and wine, but which lost competitiveness from 1990 onwards.
In 2015, he began to explore old, almost abandoned vineyards, with the traditional Algarve varieties, Negra Mole (autochthonous), Castelão and Crato Branco (Síria) planted in sandy soils. The Negra Mole vineyard was planted in 1942, on a free standing. The first red wines (5000 liters), produced in a borrowed cellar, were released on the market in 2005.
In the late 1900s and early 2000s, white wines had almost no value in Portugal, so he chose to plant only red grape varieties. Later, the market began to consume rosés and whites and then it had to adapt the exploitation, with grafting, with national white varieties Viosinho, Arinto, Sercial, Verdelho, Rabigato and Códega do Larinho. The cellar also evolved in terms of area, storage and machinery, with a capacity of 300,000 liters today. The current farm comprises about 22.5 hectares of vineyards for wine and 4.5 hectares of citrus.
