Portugal · Douro

Quinta do Popa

A small Cima Corgo family estate making schist-grown Douro whites, from a six-variety blend to a limited amphora wine.

The producer

Quinta do Pôpa sits on the left bank of the Douro River in Cima Corgo, at Adorigo in Tabuaço. In 2003, the property comprised nine hectares, including six hectares of vines and four hectares of old vines dating from 1932. Its schist soils retain water and carry nutrients, providing the setting for ripe Douro fruit and the mineral character found in Contos da Terra Branco.

Pôpa Contos da Terra Branco 2024 is a six-variety white, including 30% Viosinho, with yellow apple, white peach, grilled lemon, apricot and mineral notes. Pôpa Amphora Branco takes a different cellar path: pre-fermentation maceration, fermentation with solids in amphora and full-lees ageing create a fuller texture, while documented acidity keeps the wine lively.

Known for

Douro whites that pair old-vine, schist-site fruit with both blended and amphora-fermented expressions.

Notable facts

The story

How Pôpa Got Its Name

Francisco Ferreira was known as Pôpa, and the estate’s history begins with his unrealised dream. His son José Ferreira, known as Zeca do Pôpa, took the practical step of acquiring part of Quinta do Vidiedo in Adorigo, Tabuaço. The property became Quinta do Pôpa, carrying Francisco’s nickname onto the label. The family project later gained technical encouragement from Bairrada winemaker Luís Pato, and Stéphane and Vanessa Ferreira became actively involved in 2010. But the name itself still begins with Francisco Ferreira and the section of Douro vineyard his son acquired in Adorigo.

From the atlas

Quinta do Popa

At A Glance

Quinta do Pôpa is a family estate in Portugal’s Douro Valley DOC, on the left bank of the Douro River in Cima Corgo. Its small 2003 holding included six hectares of vines, four of them old vines planted in 1932; the range pairs a six-variety Douro white with a limited amphora-fermented Branco.

The Producer

The name comes from Francisco Ferreira, known as Pôpa. His son José Ferreira, known as Zeca do Pôpa, acquired part of Quinta do Vidiedo in Adorigo, Tabuaço, turning a family ambition into a named estate. That origin remains close to the bottles: the Pôpa name sits on wines made from a compact Douro site rather than a broad regional blend assembled from unnamed vineyards.

Place

The estate lies in northeastern Portugal, within the Douro Valley DOC and the Cima Corgo subregion, on the river’s left side. In a warm Douro setting, grapes can reach ripe fruit character; Contos da Terra Branco shows that ripeness through yellow apple, white peach and apricot, while grilled lemon keeps citrus in the picture.

Soil And Site

Quinta do Pôpa describes its ground as schist with nutrient content and water-retention properties. That matters on a small property where four hectares of old vines dated from 1932 were recorded in 2003: vines rooted in this rock work from a site able to hold water, while the resulting whites retain a mineral thread beside their stone-fruit fruit.

Story

José Ferreira’s acquisition of part of Quinta do Vidiedo gave the family a foothold in Adorigo, Tabuaço. Later, Luís Pato, the Bairrada winemaker and family friend, brought technical knowledge and encouraged the third generation to develop the project. Stéphane and Vanessa Ferreira became actively involved in 2010, bringing a younger direction that can be seen in the coexistence of a blended Douro white and a limited wine made in amphora.

Carlos Raposo has been identified as head winemaker from the beginning of 2021. His role sits within an estate whose history is measured in family handovers and specific vineyard ground, so the range can move between fruit-led blending and clay-vessel work without losing its Douro setting.

Vineyards And Cellar

In 2003, the property comprised nine hectares, including six hectares of vines and four hectares of old vines from 1932. That limited vineyard base places attention on the material already in the ground, rather than on a large estate’s many separate sites; old-vine fruit is part of the estate’s documented foundation.

The cellar direction changes with the bottle. Pôpa Amphora Branco revives amphora vinification as a limited edition: for the documented 2019 wine, grapes underwent pre-fermentation maceration, fermented with solids in amphora, then aged on full lees. Skin contact, solids and lees bring more body and texture than a straightforward fruit-only white, while amphora avoids making oak the defining flavour.

Wines

The confirmed range offers two distinct white-wine routes. Pôpa Contos da Terra Branco 2024 is a six-variety blend containing 30% Viosinho. Its fruit-and-citrus profile—yellow apple, white peach, grilled lemon and apricot—makes it the more immediate expression, with mineral notes placing the blend back in its schist setting.

Pôpa Amphora Branco takes a different route through the cellar. It is a limited-edition wine built around ancestral amphora vinification, maceration and lees ageing, so its interest is structural as much as aromatic: more texture, more contact with the solids, and acidity documented as part of its shape. These are not interchangeable labels; Contos da Terra presents the blended Douro-white side, while Amphora Branco tests how the same regional context behaves in clay.

In The Glass

Contos da Terra Branco 2024 opens with yellow apple and white peach, then brings grilled lemon and apricot across the palate. The six-variety blend, including Viosinho, joins orchard fruit with citrus rather than isolating a single grape’s character. A mineral note follows the fruit through the finish, linking the wine’s ripeness to the schist ground beneath the estate.

Amphora Branco should be approached for its texture. Pre-fermentation maceration, fermentation with solids and full-lees ageing give the white a fuller feel and more layered weight than a simple young-fruit style, while its documented acidity keeps the palate active.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with Pôpa Contos da Terra Branco 2024. It is a six-variety Douro white with 30% Viosinho, and its documented yellow apple, white peach, grilled lemon, apricot and mineral character makes the estate’s core materials easy to follow in one glass. The fruit shows the Douro setting; the citrus and mineral notes keep the wine from reading as merely ripe. Amphora Branco can come next, when the question is how maceration and lees change texture.

Anecdote

Francisco Ferreira was known as Pôpa, and the estate’s story begins with his unrealised dream. His son, José Ferreira—Zeca do Pôpa—took the practical step that gave the dream a place: he acquired part of Quinta do Vidiedo in Adorigo, Tabuaço. The property became Quinta do Pôpa, carrying his father’s nickname into the name on the label. The family’s later work developed from that acquisition, but the name itself still points back to Francisco and to the section of vineyard José secured on the Douro’s left bank.

Final Word

Quinta do Pôpa is most clearly understood through its scale and its two white-wine approaches: schist-grown Douro fruit in Contos da Terra, then amphora, solids and lees in the limited Branco. The name on the bottle begins with a father’s nickname and a son’s purchase in Adorigo.

Sources

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