In our 10th harvest, the sand vineyards of Colares gave us grapes for a Malvasia de Colares white and for the Quinta's first red Ramisco.
“It was a very special day for Quinta de San Michel. In our 10th harvest, we ventured for the first time into still wines from sand. It is a new chapter and a new story.” — Alexandre Guedes, winemaker
We planted our sand vineyards in 2023, a few kilometres from the Atlantic, in the heart of the Colares region. In 2026, Borneirinhos, Mar da Aguda and Ribeirinha gave their first grapes for still wines: a white and a red that will be Quinta de San Michel’s first DOC Colares wines.
Winter was very rainy, and that ended up helping the rest of the year. Starting in May, it hardly rained at all, but the water from the winter was enough to keep the vines well-nourished.
With little rain, humidity remained below normal and there were fewer fungal diseases. We manage these vineyards using organic practices—though not certified—and only 9 treatments were needed. Both quality and quantity were above average.
The vineyard was very heterogeneous, so we harvested in two stages, on September 4 and 15. During each harvest, we picked only the grapes that were at the right ripeness: 530 kg in the first and 500 kg in the second.
In the winery, the whole clusters were placed in small presses for a very gentle pressing and a very pure must. The wine fermented in 300- and 400-liter French oak barrels. Malolactic fermentation is now complete, and the wine will age for at least 12 months.
On 10 September we harvested Mar da Aguda, our vineyard closest to the sea. It gave only 200 kg, a very small crop, not enough to fill a barrel. So we added these grapes to the Borneirinhos wine.
In total, the white from sand gave around 1,100 litres, which should make close to 1,300 bottles.
On August 21, just as we did in 2025, we harvested 1,000 kg of Ramisco to serve as the base for our special Ramisco sparkling wine. The whole clusters were pressed, as we always do for our sparkling wine bases, and the wine fermented in used French and Hungarian oak barrels. It has already been blended with the 2025 vintage. The rest is set aside for later: it will be a surprise.
On September 9, we harvested another 500 kg for the estate’s first Ramisco red wine. The grapes were destemmed and fermented as whole berries for 10 days, with light maceration every 4 hours. We wanted an elegant, delicate, and pure Ramisco. It is now aging in used French oak barrels, where it will remain for 18 to 24 months.
The Quinta team, friends, and—over the course of two days—the Wine Club members.
Wine Club members will taste these wines at the Magusto on November 14. For everyone else, there’s still a wait: the white wine will age for at least 12 months, and the red wine for between 18 and 24 months in barrels. Anyone who wants to be the first to know can subscribe to the Estate Newsletters or join the Wine Club.
It is loose sand by the Atlantic, in the heart of the Colares region. It was in this sand that the old vineyards survived phylloxera at the end of the 19th century.
The historic grapes of Colares: Malvasia de Colares, a white, and Ramisco, a red.
Mar da Aguda is near Aguda beach and Borneirinhos lies between Fontanelas and Azenhas do Mar. Ribeirinha is next to Mucifal, in Colares.
There is no date yet. The white will age for at least 12 months and the red for 18 to 24 months in barrel before bottling.
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