Wine tasting in Alentejo

Sunday, October 27, 2019                                                                   Alentejo

Dora guides us through the states of winemaking at the Herdade do Esporao

After our visit to Monsaraz, we drove 30 minutes to the Herdade do Esporao winery for a tour and tasting.  Dora was our guide, very knowledgable, but with a wonderfully expressive Portuguese accent that made her a bit hard to understand.  The history of the property dates back to medieval times, but the winery was started in the 1980s. They also now produce olive oil.

They make a small production, and she explained in detail how they are now producing  organic wine. For example, insects are controlled through planting beneficial herbs (rosemary) that are preferred by beneficial insects, and they house bat colonies to keep the insect population down.  Roses are planted at the ends of the rows of vine, acting as a canary in coal mine for early detection of mildew.  During the growing season, the grape leaves are tested 3 times a day for humidity to determine where/when/how much to irrigate – which is  controlled by computer – down to the level of individual rows.

Vineyards, cork trees and olives on the horizon.  Irrigation is controlled by computer down to the level of each row.

In the organic production, they use concrete vats to age the mash, as it offers better porosity than steel.  Also, they are now making small artisanal vats of wine in large clay amphora – only about 8000 bottles/year.  The organic wine sells in their store for 25 euro.

The Herdade do Esporão has 700 hectares of vineyards, olive groves and other crops all now growing using organic methods. They have planted around 40 grape varieties and 4 types of olives.

Beautiful sliding doors made from the staves of their used oak barrels

Curated oak tree - (OK, a small joke)

Concrete vats for aging the wine

Beautiful large terra cotta amphorae

The olive crop is being harvested

Esporão's has a large barrel tunnel, which resembles a 15-meter wide metro tunnel, and is buried 12-meters deep.  They said it provides the best natural temperature and humidity without the need for artificial control or energy and extra environmental costs.

It houses approximately 1,500 barrels, about 70% of which are American oak, with the remainder French oak.  The barrels each hold 225 liters. They replace approximately 30% of these barrels annually and the barrels are expected to last for 3 to 4 years.

One small section of their barrel vaults

 Went down 3 layers into underground cellar – to learn more about oak barrels.  They primarily use American oak for the staves, bu the  barrels are made in spain, france, etc.  The inside of the barrel is toasted for flavor.  We entered a beautiful space with a large oak stave table to experience the sniff test – a light toast of the barrel smelled like  vanilla, medium toast was tobacco,  French oak had a lighter aroma that was caramelly, dark toast is coffee and dark chocolate.  The most impressive part was the beautiful table made of oak barrel staves three levels underground.

Dora passes around samples of toasted oak barrel staves

We finished with a taste testing of a white and red wine, which sell in their shops for 5 and 7 euro.  We ended our time there with an amazing flaming sunset.

Light and fruity - easy to drink

And now for the red...

Their labels are decorated through an art competition

A flamazing sunset!

Lovely philosophy - words to live by