“The south of Portugal is producing wines with clearly defined fruity flavours that are delighting the international palate without sacrificing their own identity.”
Richard Mayson (United Kingdom, 2003)
“The Alentejo led the way in the revolution of Portuguese wines. It is a region that has enjoyed an extraordinary success in the last decade.”
Leena Ng (Singapore, 2009)
“The Alentejo Region, hot and dry, in the southeast, is perhaps the most promising source of accessible table wines, full-bodied, with intense colours... and this is without a doubt one of the most promising wine growing regions in the world.”
Jancis Robinson (United Kingdom, 1999)
“The wines from the Alentejo have a fine balance between production, quality and price, thus providing a pleasure that is unique.”
Dionísio Chaves (Brazil, 2009)
"I plant the cork tree for my grandchildren, the olive tree for my children and the vineyard for myself"
Popular saying from the Alentejo
Vineyards currently occupy an area of over 22 000 hectares in the Alentejo, where each year an average of 90 million litres are produced, mainly of red wines. The climate is distinctly Mediterranean, with very strong light, a very long exposure to the sun throughout the year, summers with consistently high temperatures during the day but cooler nights, cold winters and a dry environment. The soils also have very favourable conditions for growing grapevines. For all these reasons, the Region is clearly suited for the production of high quality wines.
Due to its climate, the Alentejo is also among the best wine producing regions with regards to the stability and consistency of the quality and quantity of grapes produced. Moreover, its morphology characterised by vast softly undulating plains is ideal for using the most modern techniques and technologies in vine growing.
Historians believe that vine growing was probably introduced in the Alentejo by the Phoenicians. Travelling inland into the Region along the rivers Sado and Guadiana over 2000 years ago, these peoples took with them the grapevine and knowledge about how to grow it, sharing them with the people who then lived in the Alentejo. When the Alentejo was taken over during the Roman Empire, around 45 B.C., wine growing was strengthened and the typical diet based on olive oil, bread and wine was adopted, which to this day remains in the traditional gastronomy. The presence of the Moors who, led by Tarik, reached the region in 711 B.C. and settled there for almost five centuries, did not put an end to the grapevines or the use of wine in the diet.
Following the inclusion of Évora into the newly created Kingdom of Portugal in 1165, the city became the largest wine growing centre in the Alentejo. Today wine is one of the most important economic activities in the region.
