When Wu Zhiwei and his wife Lao Chao Peng visited Portugal in 2013 they fell in love with the country.

A Macanese entrepreneur, philanthropist and construction expert, Wu knew more about building offices than blending wine. He once joked: "I'm not a wine expert, but if we talk about construction, I can tell you the names of each specific screw."

But when the couple saw the Quinta da Marmeleira estate forty minutes from Lisbon with its rolling green vineyards and 500 years of history and culture, they were sold.

Lao Chao Peng tells CGTN the story, seated among resting December vines/

"In 2013, after the Belt and Road initiative proposed by President Xi, we came to invest in Portugal, we chose here because of the good relations through Macao."

Portugal in summer: "We were so happy"

"We were very excited, we both loved the natural landscape, we travelled to every corner of the entire country, it's just beautiful and the people so friendly and hospitable.

"When we arrived here in the Alenquer region it was late summer, and the vineyards were full of grapes, we were so happy, wow, that endless view of grapes, just looking at it makes you happy."

A new dream matured quickly: to create quality wine for export to China with its burgeoning middle class.

Now more than ten years later that dream is a reality with Quinta da Marmeleira wines regularly winning awards, most recently at the 'Most Promising Wine and Spirits Awards of the Portuguese-speaking Countries.' Its Amplo red was recognised and Chamelaria, a premium red wine, received the Annual Selection Award.

Wu Zhiwei passes away suddenly: "Dynamic, visionary businessman"

But tragedy struck in January 2024 when Wu Zhiwei passed away suddenly at just 57 years of age.

The Portuguese government posthumously awarded him the Merit Medal for strengthening ties between Portugal and China. The China-Portugal Chamber of Commerce in Macao called him "a dynamic example of Luso-Chinese relations," and a "visionary businessman."

His wife Lao Chao Peng and his daughter Carmen now run the family business, keeping Wu's bridge-building legacy alive. 

Despite the loss of her husband Lao is upbeat about the future. "On the 25th anniversary of the peaceful return of Macao to China, we think that the friendly relationship and close ties between our two countries will continue to develop positively, we are very confident of that."

At Quinta da Marmeleira they cork over 300,000 bottles of wine a year, with 65 percent of that going to China and Southeast Asia.

Nearly 95 percent of all wine consumed in China is red

China loves red wine: Nearly 95 percent of all wine consumed in China is red wine and here they produce soft, smooth reds using syrah, castelao and touriga nacional grapes - perfect for the Chinese palette.

In the summer it's very hot during the day and cool at night thanks to the sea breeze, the terroir, Atlantic air and rich limestone soils are similar to the Bordeaux region in France, where some of China's favourite wines come from.

Throughout the day at the finca 'Ms. Lao', as she's known, speaks with Adriano, a long-term employee at the Quinta da Marmeleira, who was born in Portugal but grew up in Macao and speaks fluent Cantonese.

In fact most of the 40 some staff have worked with the Wu family for a long time - welcome employment for the local area.

And more work is coming too if future plans bear fruit. Enotourism (wine tourism) is on the rise and one of Wu's dreams was to build a hotel for guests to stay on the grounds.

"You should see Chinese people when they come and visit during harvest season," says Ms. Lao. "They get so excited to be able to eat grapes straight from the vines."

"Now people come to events like wine tastings or they do short visits, but we want people to stay a few days, not just a few hours and building a hotel would also be a big boost for the local economy. "I think we are very lucky," concludes Ms. Lao.

"Over the past 25 years we have tried to seize this opportunity, taking our products to China and acting as a kind of bridge between China and Portugal. We promote Portuguese products in China and we also promote our Chinese story in Portugal and Portuguese-speaking countries."

Now they are letting their wine speak for itself too, Portuguese wine with a Cantonese accent that is deeply rooted in family and close relations centuries in the making.