Text João Barbosa | Translation Jani Dunne

I believe we grow old, not senior, when memories frequently occur. Ouch! My back, heart and lungs let me know there’s no longer space for me in the substitutes bench of an amateur football team.

That’s life! I say this because the producer I’m introducing to you now was introduced to me on a very special occasion in my life. That doesn’t necessarily make a wine or anything else good or bad. In this case, it’s a really good wine. And why?

Because the wines that appeal to me the most have a differentiating character that can consist of various characteristics. Like every other wine, except when they have to be tested in the dark and inside immaculate rooms, affection, or rather history, weighs on my preference. What is it about this one?

It’s the origin – unthinkable until a few years ago. Baleizão is in the very heart of Baixo Alentejo (or South Alentejo), a warm, dry and ondulado (“wavy”) place. Little do we know and did we know about this village… a town with a strong political bond namely with the Communist Party. The rest of its history doesn’t matter for the moment.

What matters here is the plain. This ondulado part of Alentejo, green in the spring, golden with ripe wheat, and still golden from leftover straw after the harvest. This is Alentejo where the heat is even hotter. Wine? Well, until the phylloxera crisis in the 19th century, vineyards grew all about, even though scarcely in some spots. The aphid infestation arrived and the vines didn’t grow back.

Herdade Paço do Conde is in that warm field. It’s natural to imagine the heat, however, presuming that the wine comes out like soup or jam is incorrect. Know-how and commitment allow for great results in “unexpected” places.

This property has the advantage of being close to Rio Guadiana (Guadiana River), which provides water and freshness. However, you can’t demand that wines portray their surroundings, which would be a bad sign, as it goes against the gift of nature.

It’s 7166.05 acres, in which 370.65 are growing vines. The olive grove takes up 2718 acres, with the traditional cultivars of the region and some other exotic ones: arbequina, azeiteira, cobrançosa, frantoio, galega (the Queen cultivar almost all over the country, with a soft and sweet character), and picual.

The head of oenology is Rui Reguinga, an expert who knows Alentejo very well, and who has enough imagination to create new formulae. Now, because of those characteristics, these wines are not oenologist wines; on the contrary, the “alchemist” becomes the author by allowing the producer and his wine to be in the limelight and speak for themselves.

I tried several wines by this producer during his presentation in Restaurant Eleven, in Lisbon. He nailed it! Connect the wine with food and you’ll understand it better. To start, Herdade Paço do Conde white 2014 was poured, accompanied by an octopus carpaccio and orange vinaigrette. Since I don’t eat fish, I am not aware of the liaison myself, only from what I was told. If it’s able to resist the vinaigrette, it means it has fresh fibre. Seeing as I get ‘mad’ when I’m poured Antão Vaz, my opinion goes off the rail. I didn’t fall for it, but it’s my own fault. The other varieties that make up the lot are Arinto and Verdelho.

Herdade Paço do Conde white 2014 – Photo Provided by Herdade Paço do Conde | All Rights Reserved

Herdade Paço do Conde Reserva red – Photo Provided by Herdade Paço do Conde | All Rights Reserved

Herdade Paço do Conde Winemakers Selection red 2011 – Photo Provided by Herdade Paço do Conde | All Rights Reserved

Herdade Paço do Conde Olive Oil – Photo Provided by Herdade Paço do Conde | All Rights Reserved

Herdade Paço do Conde Reserva 2014 is a proper red, excellent for escorting the strongest and best-seasoned food in Alentejo.

Eleven manager, Joachim Koerper, decided to jump barriers with his shoelaces tied up. And he did it! Confit suckling pig with tomato and passion fruit chutney put obvious and exotic together. Two wines and two matches to remember: Herdade Paço do Conde Reserva Red 2011 and Herdade Paço do Conde Winemakers Selection 2011 (red). Acidic, sweet and fat… so different and so recommendable, these connections!

The dessert was a variation of a Black Forest, and it proved that a red wine is very well able to make it until the end of a meal. In this case, Herdade Paço do Conde Colheita Seleccionada 2013.

Contacts
Monte Paço do Conde,
Apartado 25, 7801-901 Baleizão – Beja – Portugal
Tel: (+351) 284 924 416
Fax: (+351) 284 924 417
Email: geral@encostadoguadiana.com
Website: www.pacodoconde.com