Caves Santa Marta

Caves Santa Marta is the cooperative winery of Santa Marta de Penaguião, in the Douro, founded in 1959 as the Adega Cooperativa de Santa Marta. According to the company website, it brings together about 1,100 grape-growing members and makes Port, Douro wines, regional wines, sparkling wines and spirits.

Its headquarters are on Rua dos Combatentes, in the municipality of Santa Marta de Penaguião, an area included among the first zones of the Pombaline demarcation of 1756.

History

• 1959: on 15 January the Adega Cooperativa de Santa Marta de Penaguião is created.
• 1960: the cooperative wineries of Cumieira (23 June) and Medrões (5 December) are founded.
• 1987: the three wineries merge and Caves Santa Marta is born.
• 1998: the Porto Vintage 1998 is made; the municipality presents it as the first cooperative to achieve a vintage, and the company reports further declarations in 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2004.
• 2001: recognised as best cooperative winery of the year.

The winery today

According to the company website, Caves Santa Marta produces about 6 million litres of wine, has 40 employees and exports to 25 countries. These figures are given by the company itself, so they should be read as the winery's own account of its scale.

Visiting

The winery website mentions guided tours of the facilities, in the former Casa do Douro warehouse, with the old distilleries and the Port wine cellars; bookings are made through the company's contacts. The municipality also mentions a Museu das Caves Santa Marta inside the premises. Opening hours and conditions should be confirmed directly with the winery.