Couquinho, a wine whose name in the local language of the Alto Douro means "a place that is difficult to access," is produced on a farm that has belonged to the Melo Trigo family for over two centuries.
Many of the estates that once belonged to the family, like Quinta do Couquinho, are located in the Vilariça Valley, where local legends and stories are intertwined with the family.

Women in the Douro region have traditionally played a more prominent role in managing family businesses than in other parts of the country, and the Melo Trigo family is no exception. Throughout the family's history, women have repeatedly been at the helm, continuing family traditions. Maria Adelaide Melo e Trigo, along with two of her brothers, owns and is the driving force behind Quinta do Couquinho. She was the one who decided to take advantage of the Douro's exceptional climate to maximize the estate's wine and olive oil production. In the past, the farm's grapes were sold to large Port wine producers, but in the late 1990s, Maria Adelaide decided to capitalize on the quality of the harvest to begin bottling her own wine.

The first harvest was bottled and sold by Lavradores de Feitoria, an association of small and medium-sized producers from the Douro region, of which Quinta do Couquinho was a founding member. Eventually, in 2002, the decision was made to bottle it under its own brand, Quinta do Couquinho.
As the project grew, Maria Adelaide has been able to count on the help of her brothers Nelson and Eduardo, as well as a team of dedicated workers and the acclaimed Douro winemaker João Brito e Cunha, to manage and maintain the quality of the farm's products.

Fazenda Couquinho covers approximately 70 hectares, 60 of which are under cultivation. Vineyards and olive groves occupy most of the cultivated land, with the remainder planted with almond, orange, fig, apple, and other fruit trees. Located in the Upper Douro region of the Douro Demarcated Region, the estate borders the Alto Douro Wine Region, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001.