Viticulture of Alentejo Grapes
There is something wonderfully refreshing about the Alentejo landscape, with its endless open fields. Here in Vidigueira, softly rolling plains reach out to vast blue skies, and far-off horizons. The Quintas blends seamlessly with both vineyards and cereal fields, creating a shifting tapestry of colors: lush green at winter’s end, golden straw by late spring, and rich ochre in the final stretch of summer.
Photo by Carlos Lima on Unsplash The calm life of agriculture creates beautiful scenes across fields of crops
The Pillars of Wine Craft
All humanity, seeing a vista spread before them marvel at the sheer scale and beauty of the land stretching out as far as the eye can see.
In contrast, the Quintas of Portalegre, in harmony with their neighbours in the Alentejo's eight regions see and have the greatest respect for their terroir. The seasons, the sun, cold winters and rain define the nature of their soil.
In each region the viticultors or grower have developed their own distinct craft profile due entirely to the diversity of soils in their fields ranging from granite and schist to marble and limestone.
But it is their eclectic mix of vines as an assemblage, often termed the field blend where native varieties like Alicante Bouschet, Aragonez, and Trincadeira (reds) or Antão Vaz (whites) achieve the balance that each vinicultor or winemaker seeks, to create their own unique flavour.
Photo opposite by Maria-das-Dores on Unsplash Wine from Portalegre
Respect the Land in Front of You
First you have to see this land
Not so much in the way of plains or hills or slopes
But to understand the wealth in its soils
Where wealth is as much in the micro-climate as in the earth
The Arts of the Field
How does soil respond to seasons
to the hot summer's sun and to winter's rain
Yet know that wherever on this land you toil
Your labours' knowledge will earn you just reward
The soil under your feet is your wealth
If your labour be a tool of nature
for then you will have a grape
and then you will have wine.
Photo by Annie Lang on Unsplash
Wines of the New World
Consistent Quality at Attractive Prices
The rise of supermarkets from the 1960's onwards created a 'fruit-forward' shift. New world producers in Australia, New Zealand, USA and Chile introduced wines that were riper, fruitier, easier to understand often labelled with a single grape rather than the complex European names. New world vineyards are designed on a large scale where grapes are harvested mechanically during the cool of the night to protect freshness. Millions of tonnes of grapes are handled, sorted and fermented in massive, high tech, industrial scale wineries specifically designed for maximum efficiency and throughput.
Australia in particular created a market-led plan where science, education, production and marketing operated in a single cohesive approach.
In contrast, Portugal, in the early 1980's not even then a member of the EEC, was at a huge disadvantage because inherent bureaucracy, customs duties and quotas created overwhelming trade barriers.
wisdom in a glass of wine
The ethos of a wine you will remember is in its aroma
In a painful adjustment spanning twenty years the vineyards and wineries of Portugal and Alentejo adapted their structures to compete in world markets. The paradox is that traditional ways of life were not swept away, but adjusted to meet the challenges of a country, now a member of the European Union with all that such membership entailed.
Today over 90% of wine production in the Alentejo is highly mechanised. The region has transformed itself; architect inspired vineyards with major, market driven investments in harvesting, stainless steel temperature controlled fermentation producing high quality wines with a rich diversity of aromas and flavour. The region operates strict quality control where only authorised and certified wines can carry the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO).
With a growing reputation as the
California of Portugal the stage is set for the Aletenjo to its grow market share with the United Kingdom positioned at the very centre of its growth plans.
Photo Opposite by Louis Hansel on Unsplash Image as featured in Food and Drink
The Alentejo wine harvest is a time of great celebration
Festivals have been created out of harvest time, they run from August to October. Visitors are welcome and participate in local traditions of grape stomping (pisa a pe), immersing themselves in the music, feasts, tasting sessions and vineyard tours. Book early to avoid disappointment.
The traditions in wine making in the Alentejo, by the very nature of their ancient passage of rights, enjoy an unsurpassable lead, one that cannot be imitated where a single wine's complexity is quite simply a form of art, a craft that cannot be learned, even in one lifetime.
Internationally renowned Italian entrepreneur and oenologist, Riccardo Cotarella, regarded as a world authority says of Portugal's viticulturalists:
"The diversity of Portugal's native grapes has created within the regions a natural aptitude for blending, a rare art in the world of wine".
Courtesy of Drink Retailing UK
The Ancient Passage of Rights
Nothing can describe ancient ways of life that are part today's busy world better than cork oak. With a life span averaging 200 to 250 years today's mature trees witnessed the Peninsular Wars from 1808 to 1814. Even then cork was used as a bottle stopper in Port wine bottled on the Douro in fact the term 'Vintage Port' came into being in 1775 when today's cork oaks might have been saplings. In a Christie's Auction Catalogue of 1773 is listed a "Port Wine of 1765".
Cork Oak and Vineyards have grown side by side in the Alentejo for milennia.
