Vineyard rows above a bend of the Douro river, with terraced hillsides beyond

Eirados Varna

Douro

Two thousand years of wine. One new chapter.

Parada do Bispo, south bank of the Douro

We are giving an old Port barn and its schist terraces a second life. Our own wine is already in the glass, the villa is rising, and the door is ajar.

Douro DOCUNESCO World Heritage41° N, south bank

Young vines in spring above the rooftops of the quinta, looking out over the valley

View from the yard across the Douro wine terraces

Rows of Eirados Reserva Douro bottles with gold capsules and black labels

The wine

Eirados Reserva 2023

Red, Douro DOC

Archaeologists found clay vessels for wine here some two thousand years old. This soil has made wine for longer than most countries have existed.

The grapes come from our own plot, once part of Quinta de Santa Eufémia. Winemaker Alzira Castro made it the traditional way: unhurried, with patience and love. Floral on the nose with ripe, generous fruit. Lively on the palate, silky tannins and a long, flavourful finish. The kind of glass you leave standing a little longer, just to make it last.

Grapes: Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Touriga Francesa
Ageing: 10 months in French oak
Soil: Schist (xisto)

€ 17,50per bottle

Order via Bullseye Wines Taste it first

The Reserva is part of the first drop from Bullseye Wines, our club for characterful Portuguese wines. No vague talk of leather and summer rain. Just wines that hit the mark.

From Port barn to quinta

A stone barn, a slope of old vines, and five years of patience.

Inside the original stone walls we are building a villa with a new steel frame, balconies over the valley and sustainable installations. Local craftspeople, local stone, solar panels on the roof.

2022

The barn becomes ours

In January we see her for the first time: a derelict Port barn on Rua das Eiras, found on Bernardo’s advice. By summer there is a deal, with a few legal gaps still to close.

“The moment the doors of this armazém opened, I knew. This would be my project.”
January 2022

Green wooden gate with a sign: Vende, Armazém 500m2 — For sale: armazém, 500 m².

The white Port barn on the street, with a Vende sign on the green gate — Before the key was ours.

Old wooden casks in the dim barn, the vineyard visible through the open gate — Inside the old Port barn.

2023

Vineyards and a first harvest

The old Port-classified terraces join the estate. In September we pick our own grapes and tread them in the granite lagares, as it has been done here for centuries. They become our first Reserva.

“Luckily the vineyard has always been well tended, and the old vines give beautiful bunches.”
September 2023

Five people knee-deep in grapes in the granite lagar, laughing at the camera — Knee-deep in our first harvest.

A hand under a bunch of ripe dark grapes among turning leaves — Ripe, dark and ready for the Reserva.

Granite lagares with an old press — The lagares, press still in place.

2024

The roof comes off

The sign is gone and the work begins. The old roof comes off; the stone walls stay. Inside them, the new steel frame will rise.

The street facade in January 2024, the old roof removed — January 2024: roof off.

Old stone wall with a window and wooden gate, the wine terraces behind — The same view, now ours. Behind this wall, the suites.

2025

Topping out

In July the steel grows inside the old walls and the floors are poured. In September the frame reaches the ridge, and we celebrate with the mayor, glass in hand, with the trees for a roof.

Alzira and Gerard standing beneath the new steel roof frame — Alzira and Gerard beneath the new frame.

Close-up of a bolted steel joint against whitewashed stone — New steel, bolted to centuries-old stone.

Guests talking on the new steel deck under the frame, trees behind — Topping out, September 2025.

2026

Roof, walls and glass

In April the first bottles of Reserva arrive. The roof goes on, and in September the glass goes in: closed for winter, open to the valley. Next come the inner walls, installations and balconies.

Under an old wooden beam, new steel rafters against a clear blue sky — The sky is still the ceiling.

Large glass sliding door in a dark steel frame, wine terraces beyond — Floor-to-ceiling glass towards the terraces.

The rebuilt barn high on the slope above the vines, new roof and glass — From the road below.

Soon

The first guests

The old facade with its five door frames stays, with steel and glass above, to the design of architect A. Castro. Eight suites, a workshop space and a long table under the vines.

See the stay

3D design: the two buildings seen from the street, a stairway to the upper building — Two buildings, linked by a stairway.

3D design: the upper building with a large glass front and balcony — A balcony over the valley.

Where it stands now

Same walls, new life.

2023 on the left, October 2026 on the right: the new roof is on, the windows are in and the scaffolding is still up along the side. Drag across the photo to compare.

The old Port barn on Rua das Eiras in 2023, crumbling walls and rubble along the road

The rebuilt barn in October 2026, with a new roof, large windows and scaffolding along the side

20232026

What we keep

Granite keystone carved with the initials ARC above wrought-iron scrolls — The initials ARC in the granite keystone, above the wrought-iron fanlight.

Open green wooden gate in a granite frame — The old green gate in its granite frame.

Old green box lock with its key on weathered wooden doors — The box lock and its key. It still turns.

The glass upper building on the old stone facade, looking out over the Douro valley

Stay

Slow down on schist.

Two stone buildings, two generous kitchens, two living rooms, a pool, and the vineyard as your back garden. Plus a light-filled workshop space.

8en-suite bedrooms

16guests at most

1workshop space

Lamego 15 min

Pinhão 30 min

Porto 75 min

Made for groups who want to share something: retreats, coaching and mindfulness, wine and cooking workshops, or family and friends who love a long table, preferably filled with delicious food and fine wines. Walk, cycle or play golf in the valley by day. Port on the balcony by night, while the swallows fly their last laps.

The villa is still being built. Join the waiting list and you’ll be the first to hear when bookings open.

Join the waiting list

Varna Archer tasting a glass of rosé on a sunny terrace

Tastings and events

Smell first, then taste, then talk.

Your host, Varna Archer

Ten years running a restaurant, more than twelve with her own wine shop and countless tastings later, Varna knows exactly which glass suits which dish and which company. She pours without fuss and tells the story behind every bottle, often a story from the Douro.

After more than 25 years in hospitality and wine retail, we know one thing for sure: wine tastes best together, with good food and a story that rings true.

14October

Next tasting, Wednesday 14 October 2026

Quinta de Santa Eufémia: pearls of the Douro

The 2026 harvest is just in. Taste ten glasses from QSE, from sparkling through still wine to Port, led by Bernardo de Carvalho of the quinta himself.

Bravoy, Parkstraat 2, 5671 GG Nuenen

Lunch 12:30, € 30

Dinner 19:00, € 37,50

Book with Gerard

+31 6 53 18 30 79
Per person, tasting included

The terraces of Quinta de Santa Eufémia in the Douro under a rainbow

At home or at the office

Portugal tasting

From crisp Alvarinho to our own Reserva, with food pairings and no fuss.

Enquire

Aperitif to dessert

Port, poured differently

Rosé Port on ice, white Port as an aperitif, Tawny with cheese. Port is much more than an after-dinner drink.

Enquire

In Parada do Bispo

Douro wine journey

Visiting quintas, walking the terraces, picnics between the vines and cooking with what the valley offers.

Enquire

Table set in a green garden with a bottle of Eirados Reserva, glasses, presunto and olives

Tasting in the garden

A long table, good food and the Reserva.

This is how we love to taste: outdoors, unhurried, with plates being passed around. Presunto and olives, fresh bread, a crisp white to start and then the Reserva in a generous glass. The conversation follows on its own.

Portugal

Did you know?

Portugal sits at the far south-western edge of Europe and has some of the oldest borders on the continent. Small in size, vast in history, culture and its bond with the Atlantic.

A nation of navigators

Portugal played a central part in Europe’s voyages of discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries. Vasco da Gama reached India by sea in 1498.

Magellan was Portuguese

Fernão de Magalhães led the expedition that first sailed around the world, in the service of the Spanish crown. He did not survive the voyage himself.

Port comes from the Douro

Port is made in the demarcated Douro region, one of the oldest regulated wine regions in the world. It is the valley we call home.

Fado is world heritage

Fado, the music of Lisbon above all, was inscribed on UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2011.

Europe’s surf coast

Nazaré, Peniche and Ericeira are known worldwide for their waves. Ericeira was Europe’s first World Surfing Reserve.

Capital: Lisbon. Language: Portuguese. Two Atlantic archipelagos: the Azores, nine volcanic islands, and Madeira, known for its mountains, mild climate, Madeira wine and levadas.

Come to the table.

Join the waiting list for the villa, book a tasting or ask us anything. Send us a message and we will get back to you.