Great great grandfather of the current owner, José Bernardo de Anjos de Brito (1818-1894), Baron of Nelas by the grace of King Dom Luís, received estates not only from his mother but also from several wealthy relatives who had no descendants, which is why he received more than ninety properties, among them the Quinta de Santo António do Serrado. The inheritance of Serrado came from his mother, Rosa Maria de Almeida and Albuquerque de Brito, who in turn inherited it from her mother, Feliciana Joaquina Perpétua Pereira Tenreiro de Sequeira. Feliciana Joaquina Perpétua’s great-uncle, António Marques de Figueiredo, is buried in the chapel dedicated to Santo António. The tombstone survives to this day.

In 1876, the Baron of Nelas, a highly esteemed member of the Nelas Council, was awarded a Prize Certificate at the International Exhibition in Philadelphia, USA, for his wine from “Nellas.” His olive oil was awarded a medal at the Agricultural Exhibition in Lisbon in 1886. José Bernardo married Maria Cândida de Sant’anna Paes de Brito in 1852 in Vilar Seco, the same village where Quinta de Santo António do Serrado is located. It was there that the couple lived and died. Their daughter, Ana Cândida de Brito Paes, popularly known as the “Barôa,” was the main heir of the Baron, but it was her brother Abílio de Brito Paes Amaral (February 16, 1853) who inherited the Quinta de Santo António do Serrado. He and his brother Joaquim (1854-1933) were avid hunters and well-liked in Vilar Seco and Nelas. Abílio passed the property to his great-nephew, Fernando Manuel da Veiga Brito (1900-1994), father of the current owner.

The great great grandson of the Baron of Nelas, Carlos Pedro Barahona da Fonseca Paes de Brito, has managed the jewel that is the Quinta de Santo António do Serrado since it came into his possession in the 1950s, at which time he planted a new vineyard. In 1991, he replanted and expanded the vineyard, selecting the best regional grape varieties, and in 1995 he resumed a tradition abandoned since the times of the Baron: bottling wine with his own label, named “Barão de Nelas” in honor of his ancestor. Since then, he has never looked back. His highly awarded wine is exported worldwide.

A Short History of the Quinta de Santo António do Serrado and the Barão de Nelas

Certificado pelo o azeite do Barão de Nelas, 1884

Left to right: Ana Cândida Pais de Brito, the Barôa; Abilio Pais de Brito; the current owner, Carlos Pedro as a baby with his father Fernando Manuel da Veiga Brito; brothers Joaquim and Abilio Pais de Brito, the hunters, sons of the Barão de Nelas.

Some wines won over the years by the Wines of Barão de Nelas.

Certificado de 1876 concedido ao Barao de Nellas