ALENTEJO GUIDE
by Herdade dos Alfanges
Alentejo, a wine land
2,000 litres of wine. The porous vessels were treated with pês, a natural pine resin, to prevent leakage, using ancestral methods passed down along successive generations of artisans called pesgadores, a profession almost extinct now. Each clan of pesgadores had their own secret pês recipe, magic formulas that conferred their own distinctive flavours and characteristics to each talha de barro.
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With the rapid spread of Christianity across the Roman Empire, the obligatory use of wine in the celebration of the Eucharist opened up new appetites and new markets for wine. The Catholic faith was a factor, albeit an indirect one, in encouraging the establishment and development of the Alentejo vineyards.
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The early eighth century brought the Muslim invasion of the Iberian Peninsula, bringing Islam and the Muslim influence to stay for centuries. In the early days of the occupation, tolerance was shown for the customs of the conquered populations. Vines continued to be permitted, although heavy taxes were levied. However, with time, intolerance for Christians and their customs grew and led to a more rigorous application of Koranic law. The Alentejo relationship with wine inevitably began to wane and the vineyards were first neglected and then abandoned. This was the first serious setback to the culture of the vine in the Alentejo.
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As a result, the wine culture remained almost absent in the southern territories. Only after the Lusitanian kingdom was established did the cultivation of vines and the making of wine see a renaissance in the Alentejo, with the blessing of the royal family and the new religious orders. By the sixteenth century, vines flourished as never before in the region with the production of the famous wines of Évora - the wines of Peramanca - as well as the whites from Beja, and the palhetes from Alvito, Viana and Vila de Frades.
In the mid-seventeenth century, Alentejo wines, together with those from Beira and Estremadura, were the most famous and renowned Portuguese wines. Unfortunately, the War of Restoration put an end to this success. However, it was the creation of the Real Companhia Geral de Agricultura dos Vinhos do Douro - an organisation established by the Marquis of Pombal to protect Douro wines - that prompted the second great crisis for Alentejo wine. One of the measures put in place was the forced uprooting of vines in many regions, including the Alentejo. Consequently Alentejo wines were plunged into obscurity.
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Unfortunately these glorious times were to come to an abrupt end. The phylloxera epidemic was followed by one and then another world war, successive economic crises, and a campaign to replace vineyards with wheat and other grain fields (in an attempt to turn the region into Portugal’s ‘bread basket’). Once again Alentejo wines fell into decline. Vineyards were reduced to small plots surrounding the hillsides or on the outskirts of villages and towns. Wine was produced for home consumption only and commercial production diminished significantly.
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It was under the patronage of the Junta Nacional do Vinho - the national wine planning agency - towards the end of the 1940s that Alentejo viticulture took its first, faltering steps towards recovery. Bringing together several wine industry institutions and taking advantage of their synergies, the association instilled a spirit of cooperation and mutual assistance: a characteristic that remains one of the hallmarks of Alentejo wines today.