History

With 65 years of acquired knowledge and striving for innovation our company is looking to expand.

The Vinícola Castelar was founded in February 1946 in Avelãs de Caminho, Anadia.  The name Castelar comes from the presence of the Royal Palace in Avelãs de Caminho. Known among the locals as “the Castle”, it was an overnight place for the members of the Royal family on their trips between Lisbon and Oporto since the early days of the monarchy.

Joining the knowledge acquired over 65 years with a strong determination for innovation, the Vinícola Castelar has developed new products and adapted to the demands and tendencies of a market that has become more sophisticated and demanding. Until not so long ago the company was focused only on the Portuguese market, a situation that has been changing during the last five years with the expansion to other markets like Switzerland, Luxemburg, Angola, China and Japan.

In 1990 the first house sparkling wine with Controlled Denomination of Origin (Denominação de Origem Controlada - DOC) Bairrada under the brand “Trono Real” was launched, immediately followed by one red Bairrada wine with the same designation.  This wine has won several wine contests, together with some labels of our bottles.

Our product catalog contains table wines (in demijohns or bottles), liqueur wines, old brandies, liqueurs and syrups - products that exist since 1946 with the brands Catalino, Doteu, Serra Brava, Carícia, R/46 and Trono Real. All of these were created based on customer feedback.

Challenges motivate us! The Castelar brand inspires us!

Circumstantial lapses that time has helped repair, caused the Castelar brand to change owners several times, marketing wines from different regions until it was recently acquired and registered by the Castelar Winery (Vinícola Castelar, Ltd.).

Proudly conscious of the importance of our origin, the Bairrada region, we could not abstain from labeling with the same brand the white and red sparkling wines that we produce.

The brand Castelar acquired two wines of excellence in 2009: a red Regional Alentejano, from the 2008 harvest and one wine from the DOC Douro from 2007.

In 2010 the Castelar Winery on its 64th birthday launched new red wines from the Bairrada, Dão and Tejo regions under the Castelar label, in order to celebrate its longevity.