The wines of the Quinta Cruz brand are exclusively made from grape varieties that originated in Portugal and Spain but are now grown in California.
Quinta Cruz is a sister brand to Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard, which was created in 2008 to showcase varieties that come from the Iberian Peninsula. The seeds of the project came from owner/winemaker Jeff Emery, who during his travels to Portugal was amazed at the incredible table wines there.
Upon returning from Portugal for the second time he found some growers in California producing these grapes and the Quinta Cruz line was born.
The boat image on the Quinta Cruz label is called a Barco Rabelo, which translates to “little tail” boat. Rabelos traditionally carried the newly made Port wines from the upper Douro Valley of Portugal, down the river to Villa Nova de Gaia where the Port is aged and eventually bottled.
It is an image that has become a symbol of Port and the wines of the Douro River Valley of Portugal. We produce a very traditional Port-style dessert wine that we call Rabelo. In fact, we feel it is the most traditionally produced Port-style wine in the New World.