Master Winemaker 100: Cátia Barbeta & Manuel Lobo
The winemaker and consultant winemaker (respectively) at Portugal’s Quinta do Crasto feature in this year’s Master Winemaker 100 guide. They tell db about listening to the vineyards, prioritising pleasure and approaching wine with patience.
Cátia Barbeta first joined Quinta do Crasto in 2008 as a harvest intern. Over the years, she has grown with the oenology team here, developing a close relationship with the vineyards, the people who tend them and the traditions of the Douro region. Manuel Lobo was director of winemaking at Quinta do Crasto until 2023, having first joined the estate back in 2007. His professional journey previously included studies in Bordeaux, then work in Australia and Napa Valley. Lobo’s focus here on creating terroir-driven, old-vine, single-vineyard and single-varietal premium wines has set a high standard for the region as a whole. Now, as consultant winemaker, he continues to nurture his strong connection to this property.
A wise person once told me that understanding the vineyard – its rhythms, limits and strengths – is the foundation of any great wine. [CB]
A great wine should be distinctive, balanced, without flaws, but above all it must give pleasure. It should also have the ability to age well and carry with it the identity of its place of origin. [ML]
A great winemaker should be both a guardian of tradition and a driver of innovation; someone able to read nature, respect the terroir and still strive to do better every day. [CB]
Perfection is impossible to achieve. Whoever thinks they have reached perfection loses the will to improve. [ML]
The thing I’d most like to change about the wine world is to make wine more inclusive, less intimidating and more focused on the genuine pleasure it brings. [CB]
I wish I could tell the consumer who drinks my wine that it is made to be understood over time, not rushed. It is a wine built on purity, balance and place, and it will reward patience more than immediacy. [ML]
The last time I asked a sommelier for advice, I was surprised by an unexpected pairing that reminded me how much there is still to learn, and how wonderful that is. [CB]
If I couldn’t be a winemaker, I would still work with place and time, caring for land where origin, identity and long-term decisions matter more than immediate results. [ML]
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I wish our vineyards could speak. They would tell stories of resilience, of centuries of human work and of a valley that shapes character. [CB]
My next ambition is to further elevate the expression of Quinta do Crasto’s wines, and contribute to keeping the Douro among the most fascinating wine regions in the world. [CB]
If I won the lottery, I would stand behind the people of the Douro, whose work and dedication keep the vineyards alive and our heritage intact, at a time when skilled hands are increasingly rare and more important than ever to protect this land and its history. [ML]
If there were more hours in the day, I would spend them in the vineyard, walking the rows, studying soils and vines, and listening more carefully to what the land is asking before the wine is ever made. [ML]
When it’s all going wrong, I always remember that “hard times create strong people; strong people create good times; good times create weak people; and weak people create hard times”. [ML]
My desert island wine would be a well-aged Quinta do Crasto Vintage Port, because it carries the soul of the Douro wherever I go. [CB]
Master medals
Quinta do Crasto Colheita 2005, The Global Fortified Masters 2025
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