Winery Overview
The ancestors of the van Zeller family are the first known members of an uninterrupted series of 14 consecutive generations devoted to Port and Douro wine trade, an unprecedented fact in any other Portuguese family "dynasty” involved in the wine business. The known origins of the van Zeller family refer to the 13th Century, to the Flemish cities of Mechelen and Nijmegen, where they held several properties, namely, in the village of de Zellaer. During the 17th Century, the van Zellers migrated to Spain and Portugal, countries where they came to settle. Their connection to the wine business began in the beginning of the 17th Century, according to the wine records Livros da Imposição (1620-1640) that refer to the trader Jorge Fernandes and his son-in-law Francisco da Silva Moura, ancestors of the Portuguese legacy of the family, as the biggest wine traders at that time. Feuerheerd’s was founded in 1815 by the German trader Dietrich Matthias Feuerheerd who established his business in Oporto. In 1926 the company was sold to the Barros family and in 2007 to Quinta D. Matilde – Vinhos, Lda which is owned by some members of the Barros family. Feuerheerd’s became famous over the years for the quality of its wines, especially a few of its Vintage Ports. Today, the brand is owned by Barão de Vilar-Vinhos, SA, giving birth to a new partnership between the van Zellers and the Barros family, determined to continue the long tradition of quality of Feuerheerd’s wines. Barão de Vilar – Vinhos, SA was established in January 1996 from a small quantity of wine bought by Fernando Luis van Zeller and given to his sons Fernando and Álvaro. The company’s institutional name recovers a noble title granted by the Queen of Portugal D. Maria II to Cristiano Nicolau Kopke, the 1st Baron of Vilar, back in 1836, which remains, by legacy, in the family’s rightful heir possession. Before Barão de Vilar – Vinhos SA was built, the van Zellers were owners of Quinta do Noval, one of the most iconic and renowned estates of the Port Wine business sector. It was also at Quinta do Noval that the current winemaker of Barão de Vilar – Vinhos SA, Álvaro van Zeller, started his career in the wine industry. The 197 acres/80 hectares of Saião Estate is in Vila Nova de Foz Côa, in the Upper Douro. 22 acres/9 hectares are dedicated to vineyards; 12 acres/5 hectares were planted recently and equipped with an irrigation system. The estate boasts high quality conditions, not only for wine production but for olive oil and other products made with olives. There are over 450 olive trees at the estate! The demarcated region of the Douro is the oldest wine region in the world for wine production. Consisting of three distinctive sub-regions, Baixo Corgo, Alto Corgo and Douro Superior, the Douro region reveals exceptional characteristics and specificities. With vineyards set in terraces over men-carved steep hills and schist soils, the Douro presents itself as a natural amphitheater of unparalleled beauty, representing one of the major wine regions of the world. In 2001, the Douro winemaking region was awarded the ultimate recognition by UNESCO, being declared as World Heritage Site.