Bernardo Maria Freire e Albuquerque Nápoles de Carvalho was born in the Douro, in Lamego, on October 16, 1975, into a family linked to viticulture. His maternal grandparents produced around 600 barrels of Port wine in Touça, in the Upper Douro. His paternal grandparents were the owners of Quinta do Monte Travesso, where he has been producing and bottling wines and olive oil since 1996.
The appeal of viticulture and oenology came from a very young age and at 14 he went as a boarding student to the Conde de S. Bento Agricultural School in Santo Tirso. He then graduated in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro. He later studied for a master's degree in Viticulture and Oenology at the Instituto Superior de Agronomia and undertook further training in France, in particular a winemaking course at the Université Victor Segalen in Bordeaux.
A sua atividade profissional inicia-se aos 23 anos: instala-se na quinta de família como Jovem Agricultor (produtor de vinhos) e em simultâneo assume a responsabilidade da Quinta do Solar da Rede, da empresa Douro Azul (www.douroazul.com), como Diretor de Produção – durante 4 anos, onde trabalha diretamente com Mário Ferreira. Posteriormente, ao longo de 7 anos, é Diretor Geral da Seis Quintas Martúe SA – pertencente ao grupo espanhol Martúe (www.martue.com) – propriedade atualmente denominada Quinta da Foz do Sabor (www.aveleda.com). Mais tarde e até aos dias de hoje, integra a prestigiada equipa de viticultura do maior proprietário de vinhas de montanha do mundo: o Grupo Symintgon (www.symington.com) onde entre outras funções teve durante 5 anos a responsabilidade pela Quinta do Vesúvio – uma das mais emblemáticas quintas do Douro. Atualmente assume a responsabilidade de quintas do grupo (Bomfim e Cavadinha) e de particulares (Quinta de Vila Velha e Quinta das Netas) de Rupert e Paul Symington, respetivamente, com com quem reúne regularmente.
In oenology, under the coordination of Charles Symington, he was responsible for the vinification of the Quinta do Vesúvio Vintage - Single Quinta (2014 to 2018), DOW's (2019) and GRAHAM'S (2020 to 2025) - “The Stone Terraces 2021” and “Quinta do Tua Vinhas Velhas 2022” are some examples. On behalf of Symington, he has been a board member of ADVID (www.advid.pt) for the last two three years (2021-2024 and 2024-2027) and in a personal capacity is a member of the Supervisory Board of the Maria Rosa Foundation (www.fundacaomariarosa.pt).
A par disto é, como referido anteriormente, produtor-engarrafador de Vinhos e Azeites na Quinta do Monte Travesso, a propriedade da sua família. Sob a sua orientação abriu também as portas ao Enoturismo que ganhou o prémio Best of Wine Tourism (categoria de sustentabilidade – 2019). Atualmente esta atividade é complementada com a oferta de Casas de Campo com piscina privada em antigas construções de xisto dispersas pela propriedade.
Among all the places where he has been responsible, he has planted more than a hundred hectares of vineyards in the Douro (Baixo-Corgo, Cima-Corgo and Douro Superior), carried out harvests in several wineries, drawn up numerous investment projects (VITIS, AGRO, PRODER, PDR) and implemented tourism and wine tourism activities. At Quinta do Monte Travesso he naturally reflects his professional experience, putting his personal stamp on the last three decades.
Apart from wine-growing and sharing good times with his two children, his hobby is sailing: he started at the age of 11 in the Optimist class, was National Champion in Vaurien, European Vice-Champion in Snipe and competed in 5 World Championships. He cherishes the dream of sailing around the world, for which he has been preparing, adding to the practice he has acquired, the necessary seamanship and navigation charts.
