Quinta do Espinho Noémi

The Quinta do Espinho estate is etched into the steep slopes of the Douro in Tabuaço, right before reaching Pinhão. Its reference in the model idealised for the Douro Wine Country (Douro Vinhateiro) by Marquês de Pombal dates all the way back to 1757.
The Macedo Pinto family has racked up 250 years of planting their estates throughout the Távora valley and right up to the Douro river. Today, it’s owned by brothers Joaquim and Alberto. It’s a tradition that has been in the family since the 18th century and is going on its sixth generation!
In late afternoons, the estate’s location allows visitors to witness the characteristic golden tones that give the river its name (Douro – de ouro – of gold – Golden River). A stay at the pool house is obligatory and will provide the most beautiful scenery possible for refreshing dips and poolside relaxation.
The Macedo Pinto family history contains various figures who played notable roles in the Douro’s history, as is the case of Grandfather Vítor. Born in 1869, he was one of the great defenders of the Casa do Douro and also a doctor, property owner, prominent republican, mayor of the Tabuaço Municipality and a member of parliament in the National Constituent Assembly of 1911.
This Noemi pays homage to his fifth daughter of six children, who led a fascinating life at the beginning of the 20th century. She was beautiful and intelligent, cultured and sensitive, ironic and unpredictable.
She became a widow at a young age and with two small children. She would split her time between her job in Lisbon and her children, who stayed in Porto with their grandparents. She later married again, this time to a doctor, with whom she had two more children, finally settling in Lisbon.
This phase of her life allowed her to cultivate connections to music, the plastic arts, literature and politics. Her children remember how she introduced them to the beauty of the arts, helping them interpret paintings, classical music, philosophy and poetry.
The bottle you have before you is a well-deserved tribute to a life lived to the fullest and is made even more special by the beauty of the label designed by the Portuguese sculptor João Cutileiro.
All you have to do now is cool the bottle down slightly and then dive into the Douro that will fill your glass.

Cheers!