The regions · Portugal

Alentejo: the wine of sun and the clay talha

Alentejo is in the south of Portugal: plains, heat and sun to spare. From there comes a soft red full of fruit, easy to like from the first sip. It's also the home of talha wine, fermented in a clay pot the way the Romans did it.

136 of the house's labels are from here101 reds · 30 whites · 5 rosésOn the Trips map

Where it is and what the place is like

Alentejo lies south of the Tagus River, and it's huge: it covers about a third of mainland Portugal. The landscape is almost entirely flat. The vines share the space with olive trees, cork oaks and wheat fields.

Heat is in charge. There are close to 3,000 hours of sun a year and little rain, 550 to 650 millimeters in most of the region. The grapes ripen easily and build up lots of sugar and color. Freshness comes from the few mountain ranges: the Serra de São Mamede, in the north, tops a thousand meters, and the Ossa and Portel ranges shelter Redondo and Vidigueira.

A golden plain with rows of vines, a cork oak, an olive tree, wheat and a strong sun. — fig. 1Alentejo: almost all flat, the vines sharing the space with cork oaks, olive trees and wheat, under close to 3,000 hours of sun a year.

The region's grapes

For reds, the classic trio is Aragonez, Trincadeira and Alicante Bouschet. Aragonez, which is Spain's Tempranillo under a Portuguese name, brings fruit and softness. Trincadeira does well in dry heat. Alicante Bouschet is a teinturier: it dyes the wine so deeply that it earned the nickname “tinta de escrever” (writing ink). Castelão, for decades the most planted red grape in the region, is losing ground today.

For whites, the star is Antão Vaz, which shines in Vidigueira and Évora and makes a full-bodied wine with ripe fruit. Since it can end up low in acidity, it usually goes into the blend with Arinto, which brings freshness, and Roupeiro, with aromas of orange and lemon. In fact, Antão Vaz is now the most planted white grape in Alentejo; Roupeiro, which led for a long time, comes third, behind Arinto too.

What wine comes from there

The typical Alentejo red is full-bodied, with ripe fruit and soft tannin. You can open it young, without waiting years, and the best ones still age well in the bottle.

Whites are on the rise: in 2023 the region set a record for white wine sales. There's also rosé, sparkling wine made by the traditional method (second fermentation in the bottle) and even fortified wine, in small quantities.

What the label says

Two similar words show up on the label, and they're not the same thing. Alentejo, with the DOC acronym, is the denomination of origin: stricter rules and grapes from demarcated areas within eight subregions. The subregion's name can come along too, as in Alentejo Reguengos. Alentejano, on the other hand, is Vinho Regional Alentejano, the geographical indication that covers the whole of Alentejo (the districts of Portalegre, Évora and Beja), accepts more grapes and lets the vineyard yield more: up to 15,000 kilos of grapes per hectare, versus 8,500 for DOC red.

Regional doesn't mean inferior: many classic producers choose Regional for the freedom, according to the CVR Alentejana itself. And it's the majority: in 2023, about three out of every four certified liters in the region came out as Regional Alentejano. That's why you'll find both names on the house list.

The first Alentejo denominations of origin were regulated in 1988. The eight subregions of DOC Alentejo are:

Portalegre
Borba
Redondo
Reguengos
Évora
Vidigueira
Moura
Granja-Amareleja

Talha wine, the Roman way that came back

A talha is a huge clay pot: it can be almost two meters tall and hold up to 2,000 liters. Inside, it's coated with pine resin so it won't leak. The Romans spread this technique across the region, and Alentejo never let go of it.

The crushed grapes ferment in the talha together with the skins, and someone stirs the mass with a wooden paddle several times a day. Then the skins sink to the bottom and become a natural filter. The tradition is to open the talhas on St. Martin's Day, November 11, and drink the new wine in the taverns. There's even petroleiro, made from white and red grapes mixed together.

With the rise of the cooperatives, in the 1950s, talha wine almost disappeared from the market. Today it's back, with its own name on the label: DOC Alentejo Vinho de Talha. It's a rustic wine, with an old-fashioned taste.

What it pairs with

The soft, fruity red is a friend of churrasco, Brazilian barbecue: picanha, linguiça sausage, ribs. It also stands up to feijoada and pot roast.

The Antão Vaz white, fuller-bodied, goes well with roast chicken, bacalhau (salt cod) and moqueca. Talha wine calls for pork snacks, like torresmo (pork cracklings) and roast pork leg. It's a suggestion, not a rule; what counts is what you like.