Luxury Hotels Atlas / Places / Portugal / Peso da Regua / Quinta Dona Matilde
Quinta Dona Matilde
Peso da Regua, Portugal · Independent · Near Luxury
The Barros family sold their Port empire in 2006 and then could not live with having sold this hillside along with it, so within months they bought the quinta back on its own. It had been theirs since 1927, when Manoel Moreira de Barros renamed a ruined estate called Enxodreiro after his wife Matilde. Five rooms now open off a garden terrace above the river, and all twenty-eight hectares of vineyard carry the A grade, the highest rating the Port trade gives to land.
- 5 rooms
- Rooms from 183 sq ft (17 m²)
About Quinta Dona Matilde
- The estate was listed in the original 1756 Pombaline demarcation among the vinhas de feitoria, the vineyards good enough to export, and appears on Baron Forrester's famous 1848 map of the Douro under its old name, Quinta do Enxodreiro.
- Manoel Moreira de Barros bought the place in 1927, the same year he acquired the Port house Hutcheson, and renamed it for his wife Matilde, who was also his business partner's sister.
- When the Barros group was sold to Sogevinus in 2006 the quinta went with it. Manuel Angelo Barros, the founder's grandson, bought it back before the year was out and launched the Dona Matilde wine label in 2007.
- For decades the grapes picked here were carried across the Douro to be made into wine at Quinta de Sao Luiz, which the family owned at the time.
- Entry-level rooms start at 183 sq ft (17 m²).
History
Quinta Dona Matilde was known for most of its life as Quinta do Enxodreiro, and it is one of the oldest properties in the demarcated Port region. By the eighteenth century it was already counted among the vinhas de feitoria, the small group of vineyards inside the Marquis of Pombal's 1756 demarcation whose wine was good enough to export. It appears on Baron Forrester's 1848 map of the Douro. Its vineyards still carry letter A, the highest grade the Port trade awards.
Manuel Almeida founded his wine company in 1913; when Manoel Moreira de Barros joined, it became Barros, Almeida & Ca. Unlike the Gaia houses content to buy and sell other people's wine, Barros wanted land in the valley. In 1927 he bought the Port house Hutcheson and, with it, Quinta do Enxodreiro: ninety-six hectares including twenty-eight of A-grade vines. The main building was in ruins and had to be rebuilt, and gardens and new vineyards followed. He renamed the property Dona Matilde in honour of his wife, who was also the sister of his partner Manuel Almeida. The family used it as a retreat, conveniently close to Regua, and sent the grapes across the river to be vinified at Quinta de Sao Luiz, which they also owned.
In May 2006 the Barros group was sold to Sogevinus, and Dona Matilde went with it. Within months Manuel Angelo Barros, the founder's grandson, bought the quinta back; it returned to the family at the end of 2006. In 2007 he launched a new project bottling DOC Douro and Port under the Dona Matilde name, built a technologically advanced winery, and ran the estate for three decades while also serving as president of the Port Wine Exporters Association. The family later opened the main house to guests as a five-room rural hotel, with breakfast in the dining room, a garden terrace facing the river and a heated pool from May to October.
The setting
The quinta stands at Canelas, on the north bank of the Douro a few kilometres upriver from Peso da Regua, on a hillside of gardens and vineyard with the river below and the mountains behind. This is the eastern edge of the Baixo Corgo, inside the ground the 1756 demarcation first mapped and the UNESCO Alto Douro Wine Region listed in 2001. Regua, with its Douro Museum and its railway station, is close enough to have made this an easy family retreat for the Barros family for most of a century.
Experiences
- Vinhos Dona Matilde — Collection of DOC Douro, Vintage Port, Colheita and Finest Reserve wines produced on the estate.
Amenities
- Privileged view of the Douro
- Free Wi-Fi
- Air conditioning
- Hygiene products
- Access to the garden with private furniture
- Access to the outdoor lounge area and the common room of the house
- Heating in rooms
- Breakfast service included in the dining room
- Drinks, including sampling of Quinta Dona Matilde wines
- Wi-Fi gratuito
- Climatização
- Produtos de Higiene
- Acesso ao jardim com mobiliário particular
- Acesso à zona de lounge exterior e à sala comum da casa
Open Quinta Dona Matilde in the atlas for live weekend rates, photos, and the full folio.
More hotels in Peso da Regua
- Quinta Vale de Lobos Douro — Independent · Near Luxury
- Quinta do Pego — Independent · Accessible Luxury
- Quinta do Vallado — Independent · Accessible Luxury
- The Vintage House - Douro — Independent · Accessible Luxury
- The Wine House Hotel, Quinta da Pacheca — Independent · Accessible Luxury
- Torel Quinta da Vacaria, Douro Valley — Torel · Accessible Luxury