History
Maria is a mathematician and André is a winemaker.
They met some years ago and then got married. A few years later, Diogo was born.
André Herrera de Almeida began working as winemaker when he was finishing his university degree. After participating in harvests in both hemispheres, he returned to set down roots in Portugal, where he works as a consultant at four small wine producers in the Alentejo.
Although, Maria had originally lost contact with the countryside, her father had owned vineyards in Borba where he was a member of the Adega Cooperativa. He left her with the results of more than 50 years traditional grape growing – old, non-irrigated vines of local varieties such as Roupeiro, Rabo de Ovelha, Trincadeira and Aragonez.
It was at this family estate, Murteirinha, where André began pilot testing his winemaking through microvinification. Then, in 2009, André and Maria began to work seriously on the production of their own wines, Duende. Maria is in charge of the public relations and marketing and Diogo’s job is playing hide-and-seek amongst the barrels and the vines.
Our initial goal is to fuse deeply rooted traditions with the experience gained in other countries. We will produce very little at first in order to judge the market receptivity to the concept: signature wines with a distinct personality designed to complement and challenge the market. Our product is appealing to a market that is becoming ever more informed, whilst globalisation is carrying Alentejo regional heritage further and further afield.
Our mission, in other words, is to meld our unique traditions with vanguard trends, to bring the Old and the New Worlds together, on a journey towards what we believe will be the wines of the next new frontier... Want to keep us company?
