09/07/2023
Alentejo delights III
"In Alentejo the vines were cultivated by the Romans, tolerated by the Moors, revived by the Christians and nearly eradicated by Salazar".
In a quest for auto-sufficiency, the Estado Novo designated the Alentejo as the granary of Portugal. Vineyards were uprooted and from the 1920s to the 1970s wine was made mostly for home consumption.
Nowadays, vines occupy over 21,000ha of land, the easygoing sundrenched ripeness of the region's red wines has proved to be a powerful selling point on the domestic market, but the Alentejo is also producing some of Portugal's most sought after reds (70% of total production) as well as tradional and authentic whites.
The region stretches all the way from the Atlantic cost to the frontier with Spain, divides administratively into three subdistricts, following the three centred cities and our favorite wines:
- Portalegre (upper Alentejo) is the highest and coolest of all the Alentejo subregions (there are vineyards at over 750asl, some of the highest in Portugal!)
Wines with verve and finesse, like the Tapada de Chaves 2002 tasted a year ago at the Fialho restaurant, amazing experience!
- Évora (upper Alentejo), until philloxera wiped out large swathes of vineyards in the nineteenth century, was one of the most important wine producing zones in the southern Portugal!
The Convento de Cartuxa is a Carthusian monastery, it was founded in 1587 and in 1834 became a private estate. In 1963, Vasco Maria Eugénio de Almeida (Duke of Villalva) transformed the property in a charitable trust (among the numerous works he carried out, he supported the creation of the Hospital do Patrocínio, a social neighborhood, the municipal airfield, being always interest in the cause of culture!).
The wine Pêra Manca (pedra manca meaning "gaping stone") has rapidly become the "cult wine" of southern Portugal, rather Barca Velha in the north. The red wines made with Trincadeira, "fundamental grape", and Aragonez grapes, are incredibly rich and dense with a an intensity of flavor that verges on Port-like. The white based on Antão Vaz exhibits honeyed richness and weight.
- Beja (lower Alentejo), one of the hottest and arid spots in Portugal! It is worth to mentioning the white wines from Vidigueira made in talha with the tradional grapes Diagalves, Manteúdo (Listán de Huelva in Spain) e Perrum (Pedro Ximénez in Spain), and the reds from Granja-Amareleja elaborated with the ungrafted Moreto variety: extraordinary aromas, black cherry flavours and solid tannins!
Saude🥂
Credit: The wines of Portugal, Richard Mayson
