Quinta da Palmirinha - João Goucho

At the entrance of the city of Lixa, overlooking the Serra do Marão, Quinta da Palmirinha is a pioneering project in Portugal: the first estate certified in biodynamic farming (Demeter) and the inventor of the new method of preserving wines naturally using chestnut flowers.

THE ORIGINS (1909 – 1994)

The land where we now produce the Palmirinha wines was acquired in 1909 by my great-great-grandmother, Carolina Amélia. Around the age of 30, widowed and mother of six, she practiced subsistence polyculture here, which sustained her family. When she passed away in 1944, the property was inherited by my great-grandparents, Miguel and Palmira (known as Palmirinha), who maintained the agricultural model but focused more on viticulture. The grapes were processed in the estate’s winery, and the wine was sold in bulk to merchants, who would then bottle and distribute it.

RENEWAL AND TRANSITION (1994 – PRESENT)

In 1994, the estate was inherited by my grandfather, Fernando. He began by restructuring the vineyard, modernized the winery equipment, and started bottling the wine. In 2009, he launched the first biodynamic wine certified by Demeter produced in Portugal. In 2016, he produced and marketed a portion of the wine without sulfites, protected with chestnut flower.

Although I had already been involved for years in vineyard and winery work, I officially took over leadership of the project in 2023. I kept the wines traditionally made by my grandfather just as they were, while also launching my own line of wines — each paired with an original piece of music composed by me (the first being Exordium).