Quinta da Romaneira

In 1757, at the time of the Pombaline demarcations, there were already vines planted at Romaneira. In 1844, Vilaça Bacelar, a priest, inherited the land of Romaneira, and did not escape the attention of Baron Forrester when he created his famous engraving of the “Rua Nova dos Ingleses” in Porto. Padre Vilaça Bacelar is among the few Portuguese characters to be included in this portrait of notable Port producers, surrounded of course by numerous English producers. Romaneira also appears in the famous Baron Forrester map produced in 1843, with the name of “Quinta dos Reis”. Later, Joaquim de Souza Guimarães (whose initials are engraved over the entry of one of the Quinta houses), produced the Romaneira Port wines of 1861 and 1863, which the famous London auction house of Christie’s offered for sale in 1872. It was a clear indication of the status that the Romaneira name had acquired, being the first individual Quinta wine to be auctioned in this way.