The bunches are carefully de-stemmed and pass by a sorting table for an optimum selection of the berries. The grapes are then gently crushed before going to traditional shallow open marble troughs known as "lagares", where they are foot trodden. Alcoholic fermentation is finished in stainless steel tanks, followed by 12 days post-fermentative maceration. Then, the wine ages in new French oak half barrels for a period of 12 months. 

Vinha de São Lázaro is a 1.5 hectare plot of Touriga Nacional, planted around the walls of Estremoz Castle on a south-facing slope with clay-limestone soil. João Portugal Ramos says: "As an agronomist, I am always vey curious to see the behaviour of a wine from a particular vineyard, planted in a particular soil. The so-called single vineyard wines."