Alentejo the ‘Swartland of Portugal’

The expansive region of Alentejo is the “Swartland of Portugal” according to Portuguese wine expert Sarah Ahmed, due to a recent influx of exciting small growers.

Speaking during a tasting of Alentejo wines held at Portuguese chef Nuno Mendes’ his new venture Taberna do Mercado in Spitalfields, Ahmed said:

“Alentejo is like the Swartland in South Africa in that it was traditionally dominated by co-operatives but recently we’ve seen an influx of small growers with old plots making really interesting and exciting wines.

“You can get astonishing quality, structure and intensity from young vines in Alentejo – Portalegre is a particularly exciting sub region.

“The region boasts 3,000 hours of sunshine a year so the wines are ripe, but producers want to move beyond the bedrock of affordable reds towards more terroir driven wines.”

Ahmed revealed during the tasting that compared to the Douro Alentejo was flat, but that “the hills and the mountains shape the structured and premium wines.”

Susana Esteban

The region, which stretches across a third of Portugal from the centre to the south, is known as the “bread basket” of Portugal due to its abundance of wheat fields and boasts an array of soils, from schist, granite and limestone to marble.

In 1995 there were only 45 producers in Alentejo and today there are 355, illustrating the rapid rate of growth in the region.

During the tasting Ahmed revealed that Portuguese producers are starting to pick earlier and are placing a greater emphasis on freshness.

“People like Dirk Niepoort are leading the way but the general trend is towards approachability rather than lowering alcohol levels,” she said.

Esteban’s unoaked Aventura

While 80% of the wine made in Alentejo is red, Ahmed was keen to showcase the whites and rosés coming out of the region.

“The whites still look fantastic after a decade. The time they spend in oak gives them the structure for ageing and with time they develop lovely honey and acacia notes like a white Rhône,” she said.

“While little rosé is made in Portugal outside of Mateus, rosés made from Touriga Nacional are on the rise. I think it’s the best grape for it as it lends itself well to rosé due to its floral character,” she added.

Winemaker to watch Susana Esteban has recently collaborated with Dirk Niepoort on Sidecar, a red blend from Alentejo that shows a different side to the wines from the region.

An old vine field blend made from grapes grown on granite soils in Portalegre, 800m above sea level, Sidecar is aged in a 1,000-litre Mosel cask, leading to a fresh red with notes of raspberry and spice.

Meanwhile, Esteban’s solo effort, Aventura, is a blend of Aragones, Touriga Nacional and local varieties from Portalegre. The wine is unoaked as Esteban is keen for the terroir to express itself rather than be masked by wood.

Bordering the Tagus river to the north and the Algarve to the south, the name Alentejo means “beyond the Tagus” in Portuguese. A large proportion of the country’s wine is made in Alentejo, which is the largest producer of cork in the world.