GRACA António

Research & Development - Sogrape Vinhos

After an education in Agricultural Engineering for the then newly-established Œnology Degree at the Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, António has completed the Œnology Degree with an internship at the Michel Rolland winemaking laboratory, and the then-new winery Château Le Bon Pasteur, property of the Roland family in Pomerol, in 1987 António Graça joined Ferreira, in Fernando Nicolau de Almeida’s winemaking team, shortly after the acquisition of the company by Sogrape. Since 2003, been Head of the Sogrape Vinhos Research and Development Department - a structure he helped create and which, in his own words, aims to "secure competitive advantage by transforming the expertise derived from R&D into successful innovations, whether products, processes, organizations, or marketing that generate value for the company."

António Graça’s research activities extend to participating, in the Directorate of the Portuguese Association for Diversity in Grapevines - PORVID, the entity responsible for managing an experimental centre for the preservation of native grapevine diversity. All this effort in research and innovation did not fade his winemaker’s passion and talent, and he continued to collect awards for "his" Callabriga, as exemplified by the 2010 nomination for the Best Winemaker of the Year award, in the red wines category at the prestigious International Wine Challenge.

Linkedin
Antonio.Graca@sogrape.pt