📍 Alentejo

Alentejo is a large wine region in southern Portugal, east of Lisbon, reaching the Spanish border. It is a land of hot plains with hills, cork oaks and olive groves. Summers are dry and hot, so the wines are soft, ripe and berry-flavoured.

The region has eight zones with their own names: Portalegre, Borba, Redondo, Reguengos, Vidigueira, Évora, Granja-Amareleja and Moura. Red grapes are Aragonez (Tinta Roriz), Trincadeira, Alfrocheiro, Alicante Bouschet and Touriga Nacional; whites are Antão Vaz, Arinto and Roupeiro. The reds are often powerful but balanced, and whites are picked early to keep freshness.

A special tradition is vinho de talha: wine fermented and aged in large clay amphorae (talha) in the Roman manner. This tradition survives in several villages of the region.

Alentejo is part of Portuguese winemaking and differs from northern regions such as the Douro and Minho in its hot climate, flat relief and large estates. Alentejo reds suit pork, meat and local cheeses, and the whites fish and salads. The name Alentejo on a label shows that the grapes grew in this very area, which makes it easy to look for similar wines.