Francisco Olazabal

Francisco “Xito” Olazabal is the winemaker of Quinta do Vale Meão in the Douro Superior and a descendant of Dona Antónia Adelaide Ferreira, one of the defining figures in Portuguese wine history. The estate was founded by Dona Antónia in 1877 and is today regarded as one of the Douro’s great historic properties. After studying oenology at the Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Francisco Olazabal worked with his father, Francisco Javier de Olazabal, on the first estate-bottled Vale Meão wines, after the family began vinifying the grapes under its own name from 1998 onwards rather than supplying Barca Velha. Today, he runs the winery together with his siblings Luisa and Jaime and stands for precise, origin-driven Douro wines from old vines, schist, granite, and gravel soils.