Casa Ermelinda Freitas - Premium Weingut in Palmela, Portugal

The winery Casa Ermelinda Freitas is located south of Lisbon on the Setúbal Peninsula in the village of Fernando Pó. The family business, now in its fourth generation, with Leonor Freitas at the helm, has made a prestigious and respected name for itself as a wine producer.
Wine producer Ermelinda Freitas grew up in Portugal's "Terras do Sado" region, which, despite its close proximity to Lisbon, only awoke from a kind of Sleeping Beauty state after the construction of the famous "Vasco da Gama" bridge, which is also true for the cultivation of wine. Together with her husband, she dedicated her whole life and passion to the production of first-class wines. After the death of her husband, however, her only daughter, Leonor Freitas, continued her parents' work. Wine production under their own label first began in 1997, when they invested in a new winery and a new bottling process, well equipped to produce the best red wine in the region.
Jaime Quendera is a new generation oenologist. He grew up in the wine-growing area of Palmela and continues the family tradition in the famous wine region. He received his degree in agricultural engineering from the University of Évora, and a doctorate in wine marketing from the Catholic University of Porto. Jaime Quendera's wines are continuously awarded with prizes and recognitions at international wine competitions such as the Vinalies Internationales Paris, Concour Mondial de Bruxelles, International Wine & Spirits Competition, Les Citadelles du Vin Bordeaux, Wine & Spirit Asia Challenge, etc.
The vineyards belonging to Casa Ermelinda Freitas are located in Fernando Pó, a privileged area in Palmela. This region has a special soil and climate that produces wines of different styles. The climate is Mediterranean (300 hours of sunshine per month), characterized by intense summer heat (average temperature 22◦C) and cool humid and cold winters (average temperature 10◦C). The vineyards of Casa Ermelinda Freitas cover an area of 240 hectares, 160 of which are planted with the Castelão variety, also known in this area as "Periquita". Of the remaining area, 40 hectares are covered with red varieties such as Touriga Nacional, Trincadeira, Syrah, Aragonês, Alicante Bouschet and Petit Verdot, and finally 10 hectares with white grape varieties such as Fernão Pires, Chardonnay, Arinto, Verdelho and Moscatel de Setúbal.