The wines of Lavradores de Feitoria
An interesting collaborative project from the Douro Valley in Portugal

Lavradores de Feitoria, Zona Industrial de Sabrosa, Lote 5, Apt 25, Paços 5060 Sabrosa, Portugal
Tel: +351 259 937 380
Website: www.lavradoresdefeitoria.pt
UK agent: Raymond Reynolds

Lavradores de Feitoria is a collaborative venture bringing together 18 Quintas from all three subregions of the Douro. It began back in 1999, and I visited in 2002 (report here).

It’s a sort of modern co-operative. The eighteen Quintas would find distribution tricky on their own, so they have joined forces to create a brand that is big enough to meet the needs of the market. But to have all the grapes disappear in a communal pot would take away some of the motivation to excel, and so the best Quintas get separate bottlings.

Winemaking and viticultural advice is shared among the Quintas, with Paulo Ruão the chief winemaker. The wines are made at the modern winery in Sabrosa, and also at the Casa de Mateus. 

Altogether, there are 32 shareholders, 18 of which are grape growers (these have the majority of the shares). There is a board of five: Fernando Albaquerque (president, owner of Casa de Mateus), Dirk Niepoort, Olga Martins (CEO), winemaker Paulo Ruao and Enrico Carrapatoso. Olga studied as a winemaker originally, and wanted to make wine, but when she started working for Lavardores she began helping in the commercial side of the company. She still keeps her hand in the winemaking side, but now most of her responsibilities are in running the company.  

THE WINES

Lavradores de Feitoria Branco 2010 Douro, Portugal
Fresh, bright and citrussy with lively acidity and pithy notes. Bright pure and tasty. 88/100 (06/11)

Lavradores de Feitoria Três Bagos Branco 2010 Douro, Portugal
Viosinho, a portion barrel fermented. Nice with some toasty hints as well as complex, bright grapefruit and citrus notes. Lively with good acidity. Pithy. 90/100 (06/11)

Lavradores de Feitoria Três Bagos Sauvignon Blanc 2006 Douro, Portugal
Rounded, rich, full and expressive with lovely fruit. 90/100 (10/07)

Lavradores de Feitoria Três Bagos Sauvignon Blanc 2010 Douro, Portugal
Lively grapefruit and herb nose is fruit and bright. Palate is lively and fresh with nice definition. Appealing with a grassy, herby edge. 89/100 (06/11)

Lavradores de Feitoria Tinto 2009 Douro, Portugal
Bright, fresh cherry and berry fruit. Lively and focused. The palate is ripe, fresh, rounded and berryish. Lovely fruit here with a nice savoury twist. 88/100 (06/11)

Lavradores de Feitoria Três Bagos Tinto 2005 Douro, Portugal
Fresh, aromatic dark fruits nose leads to an attractive palate showing nicely poised, vibrant dark fruits. Lovely fruit-driven style. 89/100 (10/08)

Lavradores de Feitoria Três Bagos Tinto 2007 Douro, Portugal
Supple, berryish and bright with subtle green notes. Rounded with a spicy mineral edge. 88/100 (06/11)

Lavradores de Feitoria Quinta da Costa das Aguaneiras 2005 Douro, Portugal
Lovely rounded wine with smooth, pure red and black fruits. Quite fresh with some subtle oak. A lovely vibrant wine. 91/100 (10/07)

Lavradores de Feitoria Quinta da Costa das Aguaneiras 2007 Douro, Portugal
Fresh, focused berryish nose with a spicy edge. The palate has some spicy medicinal minty oak as well as ripe dense fruit and firm tannins. 89/100 (06/11)

Lavradores de Feitoria Quinta da Costa das Aguaneiras 2008 Douro, Portugal
Lovely fresh ripe berry and cherry fruit. Good structure and lovely purity and definition. Stylish. 92/100 (01/12)

Lavradores de Feitoria Meruge 2007 Douro, Portugal
Elegant, supple black cherry fruit with some spiciness. Structured yet fresh and nicely defined. Hints of chocolatey richness as well as some mineral notes. 91/100 (06/11)

Lavradores de Feitoria Meruge 2008 Douro, Portugal
Supple, elegant and nicely weighted showing cherry fruit. Open, sweet, fine and expressive. Very stylish wine in a lighter style. 93/100 (01/12)

Lavradores de Feitoria Meruge 2003 Douro (magnum)
This has aged beautifully. It’s made in a lighter style, similarly to Dirk Niepoort’s Charme, with some stems. Fine expressive nose with some olive and mint notes as well as a bit of tarriness overlaying the ripe cherryish fruit. The palate is fine and super-elegant with brilliantly fine, spicy tannins and warm black cherry fruits. Superb. 95/100 (01/12)

Lavradores de Feitoria Três Bagos Grande Escolha 2005 Douro, Portugal
Vivid, spicy dark fruits. Very ripe but with good balance and nice tannins. 92/100 (10/07)

Lavradores de Feitoria Três Bagos Grande Escolha 2007 Douro, Portugal
Quite serious showing good tannic structure supporting the elegant cherry and berry fruit. Broad and dense yet still fresh. Needs time. 92/100 (06/11)

Lavradores de Feitoria Três Bagos Grande Escolha 2008 Douro, Portugal
Fresh, fine and a bit grippy with lovely focused berry fruits. Well defined with good structure and purity. 92/100 (01/12)

See also:

An older report on Lavradores
Visiting the Symingtons (series)

Wines tasted as indicated (month/year)  
Find these wines with wine-searcher.com

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