Mission accomplished!

Karl Heinz Stock is known locally as the owner and founder of Quinta dos Vales, where he has been at the helm since 2007, and which under his leadership has transformed into a renowned wine-tourism estate in the heart of the Algarve. Having now passed the ownership and management of the estate on to a new owner this month, it is the perfect time for an insight into Karl’s background. The dream of Quinta dos Vales came during his 2^nd retirement, and he quickly went to work to turning it into a reality. Karl had been passionate about Wine & Art for many years, and these became the foundation stones of this dream. The estate will be known to most of our readers, read on to find out more about its founder.

A Russian adventure

Prior to 1988, Karl’s career was solely focussed on Germany, where he was working his way up the corporate ladder in the banking world. But after his first professional visit to Russia in 1988 his career would be forever changed, as he identified the opportunities as well as challenges facing this fascinating country in turmoil.

As soon as 1989 Karl had found a local partner and together they founded the first real estate development company of the post-Soviet era. The challenges appeared insurmountable, when considering that the very concept of private ownership did not yet exist in Russia, let alone any sort of financial or legal framework to work with. The financial obstacle was overcome by convincing their clients (who were exclusively Western multinational companies, such as Exxon. Societe General, and even the International Monetary Fund) to finance the entire development process by paying their rent upfront for several years, without any sort of guarantee. The solution to the legal challenges was even more unique, as Karl explains: "I brainstormed the concept with top international lawyers and best brains of the legal department of Moscow University, resulting in a game-plan of how Russian Real Estate can be transformed from state ownership into private ownership". This game-plan was then used as the basis of the new legislation, and for his pioneering role, Karl was offered an honorary doctorate from the same university.

Following several years of ground-breaking work, in 1995 Karl decided to retire after falling in love with the Algarve. But in 2000 this resolution came to an end, as his former partner approached him with a fascinating new challenge, to take over an oil company (Sibir Energy, listed in London). This next phase was almost as challenging as the first but was filled with one success after another. Even though they acquired the company with no equity, by 2005 its shares were trading at approximately 2.5 billion GBP. And in parallel to entering the oil industry the partners were able to build out their development arm further, entering the top luxury segment. So much so that a considerable portion of Sir Norman Foster’s working-time during these years was dedicated to the future of what was becoming known as Moscow City.

Quinta dos Vales

Less than two years after leaving Russia, Karl was ready for his next big step, which became Quinta dos Vales. The public image of the estate has always been the symbiosis between Wine & Art, and considering Karl’s background, it was to be expected that he would be creative in these two new industries. In the very first year of Quinta dos Vales’ production, the estate was awarded the first-ever international Gold medal for an Algarve white wine. This trend of being awarded medals continued, with a notable achievement being that the local distinction of "Best Wine of the Algarve", was awarded to Quinta dos Vales 8 out of the last 16 years. Art was ever-present in this journey, as the entire estate is one never-ending art exhibition, but Karl also took his sculptures on the road. With dozens of art-exhibitions across the country, his latest are the Multi-faceted Globes, which are the centre-piece of the round-about in front of the Nobel School in Lagoa.

Passion for Portugal

The longer he spent in his adopted country of Portugal, the more he fell in love with it. And Karl truly did put his money where his mouth is, he invested into what he believed, both his money and his time.

As a banker in Germany he learned how a strong middle-class is the ideal basis for a successful economy, so he invested into SMEs all over the country. Companies that were stable and healthy, which just required an injection of liquidity following the global financial crisis. Karl would provide this liquidity injection, and then let the respective owners and managers continue to run the companies, providing guidance and support. Unsurprisingly, these companies were incredibly diverse, ranging from a pool-servicing company to print-media to CNC machinery production for the stone industry and last but not least another winery in the Alentejo.

And in the big-business world of Russia, Karl learned how crucial the influence that the private sector has on politics. In Russia his words fell mostly on deaf ears, his advice being that for long-term growth both private and public investment is desperately needed into the national economy. In Portugal he took a different approach, his best-known project being “Deixem nos Respirar”, which was a movement that at its peak had the support of over 140 SMEs, together worth over 1 billion EUR. The movement identified Portugal’s bureaucracy as one of the greatest challenges to the development of the country, and they voiced a specific measure, which would have brought a Net Asset Value of 10-15 billion EUR to the country. This specific measure was only in parts realized, but the effort left its mark, as successive governments have identified the country’s bureaucracy as a problem-area.

Next steps

Karl now passes Quinta dos Vales on to a new owner, João Cascão, who has a wealth of experience in finance and tourism, spanning touristic resorts from Sagres to Castro Marim. Quinta dos Vales represents an opportunity for João to leverage his expertise and passion, to benefit the estate and take its existing culture of art, ecotourism and unique events on to new milestones.

Most importantly, Karl leaves happy as well as proud of what has been achieved: “I’ve been very fortunate to live my dream. I want to express my sincere thanks to the local community, to the artists who have worked with me, to our clients, and most importantly to the team of Quinta dos Vales, without their support none of this would have been possible!”