Nelson Neves
Presentation
Nelson Neves had, as a young man, two passions: music and sport. However, it was to wine that he dedicated more than 50 years of intense professional activity, having been one of the pioneers in the export of wines from Portugal. He was also the one who tested, with excellent results, the planting of Merlot grapes in his vineyards in Bairrada.
In his honor, this wine was named after him. With great body, concentration and aging potential, this wine can show some deposit.
Distance from Bairrada Spaces
Curia: 6,6km - 9min
Oliveira do Bairro: 5,7km - 9 min
History
During a professional visit to Bairrada, in the 90s of the last century, the famous world consultant Michel Roland, especially linked to Bordeaux, wanted to know the behavior of some of the French grape varieties on Portuguese soil. After having examined some of them, he was frankly surprised by the qualities developed by the Merlot variety, which had been planted for the first time in Bairrada by Nelson Neves, patriarch of the Neves family, after whom the wines produced in his honor are named.
All of this was an incentive for the current owners, and family members, to bet on this variety, even if, for a while, only to sell the grapes to other producers.
Recently, in 2009, the family decided to take the next step and started producing and bottling their own wine. Initially, two red wines of different quality were produced, with the Reserve only being produced in exceptional years. In 2014, Rosé wine was produced for the first time.
The family property where the Merlot grape vines are planted has about 5 hectares, is located on the homonymous street Nelson Neves, Sangalhos, in the heart of Bairrada, a region known for its clayey-limestone soils and microclimate, whose summer with relatively warm days and cold nights, makes it the choice for the production of Merlot grapes in Portugal.
Due to the excellent results obtained, which are increasingly rewarding, Nelson Neves' family intends to continue to promote this project, which is just beginning, and which deserves to be developed at national and international level, as a worthy tribute to those who dedicated so much to Portuguese wine.