Winemaking team

José Luis Moreira da Silva

Chief Winemaker & Operations Officer

Born in Porto, José Luis Moreira da Silva earned a degree in Microbiology from Catholic University, where he also obtained a master’s degree in Oenology. After working with Sogrape and then helping start up the Duorum project, he joined the Quinta dos Murças team in 2015 as manager of winegrowing and winemaking. In 2019, he became responsible for Quinta do Ameal in the Vinho Verde region. The following year he took over as production manager of Sovina, and he has most recently assumed the role of Chief Production Officer, taking on responsibility for all Esporão production, as well as being a member of Esporão’s board.

Mafalda Magalhães

Winegrowing and winemaking manager, Quinta dos Murças ​and Quinta do Ameal 

Mafalda Magalhães developed an interest in wine and agriculture, inspired by her father, who has been a professor and researcher for over thirty years. ​After completing her academic training in winemaking, Mafalda spent eight years in Mendoza, Argentina, working at several wineries in the region. She then returned to Portugal and settled in the Douro, where she focused on revitalizing old pre-phylloxera vineyards using traditional methods.

Mafalda deepened her understanding of sustainability and developed a family project, while also providing consultancy services, with a focus on organic and regenerative agriculture. Her work has spanned several regions, including Douro, Vinho Verde, Dão, Setúbal, and Alentejo. In 2024, she joined the Esporão family as Winemaker and Viticulture Manager at Quinta dos Murças in the Douro and Quinta do Ameal in Vinho Verde. ​

Ana Cruz

Winemaker Alentejo

Ana was born in the heart of the Dão wine region in a small village in the municipality of Tondela, and was introduced to the wine world at a young age by the hand of her maternal grandmother. Following a degree in biology at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto, she did a M.S. in Applied Microbiology at the School of Biotechnology of the Catholic University of Porto. She continued her academic studies with a postgraduate degree in Viticulture Engineering and Oenology, at the Faculty of Sciences, financed in part by research grants in plant science. Her first experience with winemaking dates from a 2019 internship at Quinta do Ribeiro Santo, in Dão. For three years, she contributed as part of the winemaking team of the Borges Wine Society, working in three regions – Vinho Verde, Dão, and Douro. In October 2022, she moved to Alentejo to join the Esporão winemaking team. In February 2023, she accepted Esporão's challenge to go to Argentina to participate in the Zuccardi family harvest.

Beatriz Mateus

Winemaker Alentejo

Originally from Vila Nova de Gaia, Beatriz Mateus began her academic journey with a technical course in Chemical-Biological Analysis, which provided her with a strong technical foundation and the opportunity to take part in her first harvest in 2015 at Adega José de Sousa. She later pursued a degree in Biomedical Sciences and, with a keen interest in research, completed a Master’s in Clinical Research, further expanding her scientific knowledge.

Despite her academic path in the sciences, her passion for winemaking remained strong. She participated in the 2017 harvest at Quinta dos Murças and the 2019 harvest at Herdade do Esporão. In 2022, she decided to fully dedicate herself to the world of wine, returning to Herdade do Esporão for a professional internship in oenology. The following year, she officially joined the Esporão winemaking team, embracing her passion for viticulture and contributing to the pursuit of excellence in wine production.