Diogo Campilho

The Climb

Wine training here runs through formal study as well as industry qualification. Campilho trained at Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Nova School of Business and Economics, and the Institute of Masters of Wine (2015), with Wine & Spirit Education Trust also listed in his education. The result is a profile shaped by technical instruction and commercial literacy in equal measure. Early cellar work began as assistant winemaker,during vintage at Oakvale Wines Pty Ltd. (2003), a vintage post that places him in the pressure of harvest work from the start. From there, the span of his roles widened: winemaker at lagoalva (2002–2022), Export Manager at Quinta da Lagoalva de Cima (2005–2022), National Sales Marketing Director at Quinta da lagoalva (2008–2022), and responsável por produção e logistica agricola at Quinta da lagoaiva (2014–2022). Taken together, these positions map a career built across production, logistics, sales and export rather than within a single narrow lane. Since 2022, he has been Head Winemaker at Aveleda, continuing a line of work that moves between cellar decisions and the wider structures that carry wine to market.

Today

In Campilho’s case, that focus on native varieties sits within a broader professional reach that has already included production, commercial oversight and market-facing responsibilities. The thread running through that work is perspective: the cellar does not stand apart from the market, and the market does not stand apart from the cellar. Campilho states that directly: “We cannot be confined to the commercial side, nor be shut away only in the cellar; we have to have a broad view of the whole production area and the wine world.”

In Their Words “Being a "little bit of everything" gives me a certain perspective and ease to be able to talk about everything: grape cost price, specific cellar work or even the particular and cultural taste of a given country.” “We cannot be confined to the commercial side, nor be shut away only in the cellar; we have to have a broad view of the whole production area and the wine world.”