Alentejo organic wine

The Alentejo is a wine-growing region in central Portugal where winemaking has been practiced since pre-Roman times. A Portuguese friend and archaeologist told me that excavations in the Alentejo region have unearthed clay amphorae of various sizes and ages from pre-Roman and Roman times. This suggests that it was the Phoenicians and Greeks who brought winemaking to the Alentejo, which was later intensified by the Romans.

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Accordingly, it was the Phoenicians and Greeks who brought wine cultivation to the Alentejo, which was later practiced more intensively by the Romans. During several centuries of Arab occupation, viticulture came to a virtual standstill. It was only from the 16th century after the country was reconquered that viticulture was revived by Catholic monasteries and monks.

To this day, the Alentejo wine-growing region has been subject to constant change caused by political decisions and wars. At the beginning of the 18th century, the wine-growing region covered more than 100,000 hectares. After England and France ceased to be buyers of the wines, the vineyards were ordered to be cleared and wine growing in the Douro area was promoted instead. It was only around 1850 that there were efforts to promote wine-growing in the Alentejo again, but this was interrupted by the appearance of the phylloxera plague.

A new phase began in 1989 with the founding of a winegrowing association (Associação Técnica dos Viticultores do Alentejo), abbreviated ATEVA, which was followed a little later by the Alentejo Winegrowing Commission (Comissão Vitivinícola Regional Alentejana), abbreviated CVRA.

The wine-growing region Alentejo borders Beira Interior to the north , in the east by Spain, in the south by the Algarve, in the west by the Setubal peninsula and in the northwest by Tejo. The further the wine-growing areas are from the Atlantic towards the east, the higher their location and the more moderate the temperatures. The geological, topographical and climatic features are crucial for the quality of the wines. The climate in the Alentejo is Mediterranean with Atlantic influences in the west and continental influences in the east of the region.