The relationship between Barcelbal and Dourocaves is now 15 years old. We have been working together to develop two new modules for the AdegaGest software that meet the needs of wineries and eliminate several difficulties in wine production.
We spoke with Paulo Alves to talk a little about the partnership and the journey we have been on together.
The Dourocaves
Dourocaves was founded on 25 June 1992 by the enthusiastic engineer Agostinho Pinto Cardoso.
After living in Lisbon for several years, working for Shell, joining the Ministry of Agriculture and managing consulting firms on projects in Lisbon and Angola, engineer Agostinho Pinto Cardoso returned to his roots to devote his time and expertise to his passion for viticulture.
Dourocaves emerged from the purchase of a bankrupt company, Quinta do Loureiro. Since then, Agostinho Pinto Cardoso has increased Dourocaves’ market share through partnerships with major Port wine companies such as Taylor’s, with whom they have been working for over 10 years, Symington, Gran Cruz and Sogrape.
Engineer Agostinho Pinto Cardoso was also developing a wine tourism project, but this was ultimately not carried out due to his death.
Wine production at Dourocaves
“For the past 15 to 20 years, the sector has begun to focus more on producing quality wine from good grape varieties. Today, with all this work behind us, there are several port wines and DOC (controlled designation of origin) wines at the top of various competitions.”
– Eng. Paulo Alves
Dourocaves sells bottled table wine and fortified wine in bulk. The main wine produced by Dourocaves is fortified wine, which it sells to its partners (Sogrape, Taylor’s, Gran Cruz and Symington) and which accounts for over 90% of its production.
As it is located within the Douro Demarcated Region, it has also opened up the segment of still wines or DOC wines (controlled designation of origin), which, according to Paulo Alves, brings great publicity and recognition to the Dourocaves brand.
“We sell fortified wine in bulk, as we do not have the status to sell this wine in bottles. What we do is sell fortified wine in bulk to large companies such as Taylor’s, Symington, GranCuz and Sogrape, which then sell the Port wine in bottles.”
– Eng. Paulo Alves
Dourocaves currently exports its wines to China, Germany, France, Brazil, Switzerland, and Luxembourg.
“The quality of our products, our affinity with our customers and the professionalism we bring to our work mean that we have a close relationship with our customers and that they continue to purchase our products.”
– Eng. Paulo Alves
The Alto Douro Wine Region has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001, and Portuguese wines are gaining increasing international recognition, especially Port Wine. Paulo Alves states that the production of high-quality wines, accompanied by this recognition, is a way of boosting the Douro Demarcated Region, which he considers to be Portugal’s largest industrial area.
“Every city has a clearly defined industrial park, and not just Régua; Portugal’s largest industrial zone is the Douro Demarcated Region.”
– Eng. Paulo Alves
All this recognition has enabled Peso da Régua to become one of the municipalities with the highest demographic growth in the region. Dourocaves currently employs a small number of staff, but during the harvest season it always takes on an additional 10 to 12 people.
Dourocaves has been increasing its turnover annually and, in order to increase brand recognition, it invests in its presence on social media, participation in trade fairs abroad to attract importers, events and workshops.
“Although we do not have many products, we work every day with passion and dedication to ensure the quality of our products and strengthen Dourocaves. Our goal is to increase sales and maintain the extremely high quality of our products.”
– Eng. Paulo Alves
Sustainability at Dourocaves
Climate change is having a major impact on wine production in the Douro Demarcated Region, particularly the lack of rain, which causes the vines to dry out more quickly.
Engineer Paulo Alves states that there will be greater water stress in the Douro region. As a solution, he suggests planting in higher areas, or that institutions allow irrigation in vineyards. At this moment, the Douro is also prepared to invest in adapting vines to the lack of rain and preventing them from dying prematurely.
“We never thought that wine production could be so technological. Technology today is at the point where, when we harvest, we know if the vineyard is in ideal conditions for harvesting.”
– Eng. Paulo Alves
Eng. Paulo Alves
Eng. Paulo Alves
Paulo Alves studied at ISEP and began working in other areas. However, he was invited to work at Dourocaves, a project he accepted because he believed that agriculture and information technology could go hand in hand and that agriculture was a sector waiting to be explored.
At Dourocaves, he performs computer engineering and administrative services functions. The biggest challenge he encountered at Dourocaves was to remove human intervention from weighing to avoid errors in manual data entry and utilisation. To solve this problem, he contacted Barcelbal and we began to improve the AdegaGest software to meet the needs of Dourocaves.
Today, the partnership between Barcelbal and Dourocaves continues with the development of new modules for the AdegaGest software, the Wine Production Module and the Stock Management Module.
Another challenge encountered by Paulo Alves was changing mindsets. Showing that it is possible to optimise resources at low cost in a winery, without the need for a large investment in software.
When he installed the weighing system at Dourocaves, the farmers did not trust the weighing system’s measurements. To combat this mistrust, Paulo Alves showed confidence to the farmers, based on approved measurements from various equipment, namely the weighings, to give consistency and security to his partners/grape suppliers.
“I used to show the verification stamps on the weighing equipment, which proved that the equipment had been inspected and was up to date.
For professional reasons, we always have our weighing equipment calibrated so that people can trust the weighings and ensure the trust of farmers. ”
– Eng. Paulo Alves
Software AdegaGest
For Dourocaves, the use of robust, accurate, reliable and approved weighing equipment is essential to ensure farmers’ confidence. The AdegaGest software allows Dourocaves to fully and vertically control the grape weighing process upon arrival at the winery.
“Our equipment is certified and we have never had any problems. This allows us to provide our suppliers with reliable weighing, without them having any doubts about the weighing being carried out. At the same time, this software has been approved by the IVDP (Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto), the body that collects the harvest weights and confirms the efficiency and quality of this weighing system. It is approved and recognised by official bodies.”
– Eng. Paulo Alves
Dourocaves has received up to 2,000 tonnes of grapes in the past, but last year it received only 300 tonnes. According to Paulo Alves, Dourocaves intends to increase the volume of grapes received at the winery, but always with its long-term strategy in mind.
“The reason we received fewer grapes last year was due to price changes in the Douro region. It did not make sense to purchase a large volume of grapes for wine that we would probably not sell.”
– Eng. Paulo Alves
With the development of the new AdegaGest Software modules, Wine Production Module and Stock Management Module, there is greater aggregation and verticality in information processing, which allows total control of the winemaking process, from the moment the grapes enter the winery to the bottling of the wine.
Software AdegaGest
“The greatest advantage of the software is the aggregation of information as well as the simplification of processes.”
– Eng. Paulo Alves
The Wine Production Module maximises and simplifies work performance within the winery. With this module, it is possible to track wine batches, configure vats, describe the treatments applied in the vat, create bottling/packaging orders, and consult the entire history of the wine batch.
The Stock Management Module allows for the comprehensive management of cellar stock and the issuance of stock movement documents. This module simplifies and maximises the management of all products necessary for a cellar. With this module, you can enter products (containers, bottles, corks, etc.) and manage them, issue stock movement reports, create lists and reports, manage data, and issue documents.
“Speed. The partnership between Dourocaves and Barcelbal provides a very quick response to meet our needs.”
– Eng. Paulo Alves
The relationship between Barcelbal and Dourocaves goes back 15 years. Throughout this time, we have worked together to modernise the production process in the wineries and contribute to the development of the wine sector in Portugal.
“Commitment and always giving your best so that, in the end, it is possible to bring to market a remarkable product that helps society, the region and the country.”
– Eng. Paulo Alves
The success of Dourocaves is our success!
