For some time now, the Mello Group has been investing in the wine sector, especially in Monte da Ravasqueira, its property in Arraiolos, Alentejo, and also demonstrating a desire to acquire new land and take on new challenges. It has been increasingly present in the wine market with its different brands, aimed at different market segments. With always ambitious financial objectives in mind, the Group has now created a new business platform – Wine Stone – which will serve to reinforce its business activities in the wine sector and grow in different areas of economic activity.

With these new investments, the holding combines the production of Alentejo wines (Ravasqueira, Guarda Rios, Coutada Velha and Dona Vitória) with the management of assets in the Douro (Quinta do Retiro Novo and Quinta do Côtto) and in the Vinhos Verdes region (Paço de Teixeiró), expanding its production and export capacity to conquer new markets and segments. The acquisition of Krohn, a centuries-old Port wine brand, also inaugurates the Group’s entry into a new wine category: «Our portfolio has diversified brands, which we have developed and managed professionally across the commercial, premium and luxury segments, and Let’s continue with this work. Some brands are rooted in their segment, others we want to move up the pyramid, but we always want to be present throughout the pyramid, reaching out to all consumers”, explains Pedro Pereira Gonçalves, Executive President of the Group, in recent years lead the process of development and affirmation of Ravasqueira. (In the entrance photo, Pedro Pereira Gonçalves (on the right) next to Salvador de Mello, Executive President of the José de Mello Group).

With this strategy, Wine Stone clearly assumes the ambition of becoming one of the main operators in the wine sector in Portugal. «This holding fits into Ravasqueira’s business evolution, which in the last decade has had very positive results. Hence the increased attention to the wine sector in the Group’s strategic plan”, Pedro Pereira Gonçalves also confirmed at the press conference on Wine Stone’s new strategy that took place at the Bairro Alto Hotel, in Lisbon. «We are now investing in the sector even more focused. We aspire to be in the top 3 in wine production by 2030, with a turnover of more than 60 million euros. To achieve this, we must continue the dynamics of our DNA, which is double-digit annual growth. We will also invest in internationalization, which is essential for us to grow through the diversification of markets, creating relevant relationships that can culminate in a percentage of 60% of export sales in relation to total sales. And, of course, this also includes solid and considered investment in the diversification of new national regions that will help create the basis for desired growth», he concludes.

No less important will be the central axis of Wine’s strategy, sustainability; and growth vectors such as talent: «We need competent and qualified teams, talent retention is a catalyst for innovation and project development», he concludes.

Wine tourism will also play a leading role in promoting brands and having a positive impact on local communities.