Portuguese Wine 101: Alentejo
Alentejo is an enormous wine region just east and south of Lisbon. It comprises a third of the country. It is a region famed for cork trees—Portugal produces half the cork in the world and most of it comes from Alentejo. One of my favorite oversimplified ways of explaining this region is that it is the California of Portugal. Starting just with appearances: Alentejo is a very large region with rolling hills and oak trees. While driving around the region in the summer, the hills, dried grass, and trees could easily be mistaken for any number of places in California. But when you see the cork trees with their bark removed and with the numbers painted on the side, you know exactly where you are.
Like California, there are fewer restrictions in the appellation's laws than in general for Portugal. Wine has been made here for thousands of years—and I will discuss that later—but as a commercial producer it is very young. It’s an eclectic region: you are just as likely to find the same grapes that you find all over California here as well and the local varieties, not to mention the most famous varieties from other Portuguese wine regions. It has a warm Mediterranean climate that can be very hot in the summer. It is the proximity to local mountains, rivers, lakes, and to the Atlantic in the western parts that moderates the weather. The soils are unique and mixed.
One of the most surprising features of almost all the wines—red, white, and rosé—is the freshness. This can be a sundrenched region, and the wines have generous fruit, the body, and sometimes alcohol to show for it. However, they can also have a vibrancy that would suggest a cooler climate. It is this combination, not to mention all the layers of flavor complexity that can be interwoven with the mixture of Portuguese and international varietals. Below are a few wonderful wineries to try as you begin to dive into this region.
Esporão
Esporão is one of the most important wineries in all of Portugal, but especially Alentejo. They have been pushing this region forward since inception. Like many producers in the region, viticulture is not their only industry; on their property they have cork forests as well as olive trees, not to mention the famous black Iberian pigs that roam the landscape. Over the last decade they have been moving toward not only sustainability but organics.
2019 Herdade do Esporão "Esporão" Reserva Tinto Alentejo Portugal $21.99 This is the wine (from a previous vintage) that helped me put together my comparison of Alentejo as the California of Portugal. This is a blend of Aragonez, Trincadeira, Syrah, Touriga Nacional, Cabernet Sauvignon, Touriga Franca, and Alicante Bouschet. This is an “only in Alentejo” style of red. It is all farmed organically. Each variety is fermented separately with native yeasts in a mixture of vessels ranging from concrete to stainless steel to marble basins. It is then aged in a mixture of French and American oak barrels, new and used, for eight months. This is a rich and bold red wine. With layers of dark fruits and spices. It has solid polished tannins and a persistent finish that leaves you wanting more. It is hard to pin down this wine, which I think is a great thing.
Bojador
Interested in Roman amphora wines? Talha is the name for the local clay amphora that can be found throughout the region. There is no fixed size, but they are typically over 6 feet tall and contain about 2000 litres of wine. They have been in use for making wine in the region since Roman times. The only other region with a longer continued tradition of making wine in large clay vessels is in Georgia with their Queveri. There are differences—in Alentejo they are above ground and they are emptied from the bottom as opposed the Georgian style, which are larger and buried in the ground. This is a fascinating tradition that has only recently been reintroduced to commercial winemaking. Winemakers regularly consult with their grandparents and their friends when they have questions; these were vessels for the families’ own home winemaking up until the 21st century.
2021 Bojador "Vinoho de Talha" Branco Alentejo $19.99 Pedro Ribeiro is the winemaker at Herdade do Rocim and was inspired to make wine is this very traditional manner, so he created this small label to experiment and explore. Bojador is based around vineyards in the Vidigueira subregion, home to some of the freshest, best white of Alentejo. A blend of the local varietals of Perrum, Roupeiro, Rabo de Ovelha, and Mantuedo is made with ancestral methods in a 200+ year old Talha. While this sees skin contact, this is not an "orange" or "amber" wine. It is textured, fresh, and mineral driven white with exotic aromatics and a savory twist on the finish. It has surprisingly low alcohol (11.5%) for the weight and texture of the wine.
Niepoort
2017 Niepoort "Sempar" Tinto Alentejo $19.99 Dirk Niepoort is one of the most dynamic winemakers in Portugal. Born into a Port producing family, he has been pushing the boundaries of Portuguese wines for over 30 years. Not content to only make wines from his native Douro, he has worked with producers all over the country exploring the country's diverse landscapes and its depth of indigenous varieties. Sempar comes from one such exploration. Portalegre is one of the more famous subregions of the Alentejo. Located toward the northeast corner, it is home to some of the highest vineyards in the region, some of which look towards the nearby Spanish border. This is an old-vine (80 years), bush-vine, dry-farmed, field-blend red, and some of the varieties might be familiar—Alicante Bouschet, Touriga Nacional, Aragonez—but they do not know all the varieties that are in the vineyard. The grapes are fermented in amphora and then aged for an additional three years in amphora. This is called “amphora” rather than “Talha” because it is aged beyond the limits required for a wine to be called Talha. Bold, rich, and complex red, with earthy layers of dark red fruits and herbs. The region's elevation and soils (granite and schist) give the wine surprising elegance and balance.