Text José Silva | Translation Jani Dunne

This wine producer can be found in the South of Alentejo, very near a village called Albernoa. It belongs to the Vila Galé group, who have one of many hotels on the other side of the street.

This is a very particular unit in a pure rural environment and includes fun activities for the children, so that parents can bring them along.

The cuisine in the hotel restaurant is in the style of Alentejo (a region in the South of Portugal). It uses excellent products and, of course, Santa Vitória wine. A few hundred fruit trees have recently been planted about the vineyards – mostly pear and peach.

A few hundred fruit trees – Photo by José Silva | All Rights Reserved

The Vineyards – Photo by José Silva | All Rights Reserved

The vineyards, of both Portuguese and French species of grapes (which get on very well there), keep growing and have been multiplying. White species are Verdejo, Sauvignong Blanc, Viozinho, Antão Vaz, Arinto and Chardonnay. And the red species are Touriga Nacional, Trincadeira, Aragonês, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot, Alfrocheiro, Tinta Caiada, Alicante Bouschet and Baga.

This is a very well-equipped cellar, using all the technology available in the market, especially the cooling racks for producing fresh and elegant wines – very well made here to suit the current market.

It can hold a great amount of wine in perfect conditions, allowing for easy and safe handling. The technical team includes viticulturer José Samarra, resident oenologist Patrícia Peixoto taking care of oenology, and Bernardo Cabral – there since the beginning. Their excellent work is well credited in both national and international markets.

They have a broad variety of wines, from entrée wines – simpler but good, nonetheless – and some single-species wines – whites, rosés and reds. An amusing fact: some are even available as half-bottles (0.375 litres/0.659 pints). Lastly, some more elaborate wines, of higher quality and huge success.

The facilities easily warm up to you. This wine tourism initiative highly recommends that we take a look around, then taste the wines and bring the visit to a close at the hotel restaurant, where food and wines harmonize. Accordingly, we took a seat in that very hotel restaurant and tasted the excellent food, some of the house wines and their connections – always fascinating, always something new.

Alentejo bread – Photo by José Silva | All Rights Reserved

Finely chopped olives – Photo by José Silva | All Rights Reserved

Also on the table were the compulsory (and irresistible) Alentejo bread, some finely chopped olives that we couldn’t stop eating and, of course, olive oil – to dip the bread in.

Santa Vitória White 2014 tasted very fresh with balanced acidity; quite fruity, a young wine that already drinks well.

Next were some scrambled eggs with asparagus, in the right season, very well cooked – au point. Not a shred was left!

We consequently moved on to Santa Vitória Grande Reserva White 2012, a more serious wine with a delicious touch of wood, yet still fresh, with hints of smoke and white fruit – very good.

The arranged meal was grilled secretos, a hidden part of black-footed pork with crunchy slices of fried potatoes, sautéed spinach and slices of orange. The meat was very tasty and tender.

And so we moved on to Santa Vitória Grande Reserva Red 2012, a very elegant wine – round, full-bodied, lots of red fruits and spices, great company for the pork.

When it was time for dessert, the choice was an amazing cottage cheese with pumpkin jam – the perfect texture: melt-in-the-mouth.

We chose to accompany it with an excellent red made only of Alicante Bouschet grapes, also of the 2012 harvest. It is dark and powerful, with aromas of vegetables – exquisite green peppers – full in the mouth, some black fruits, smoke, slightly spicy and a very good contrast for the cottage cheese. What a good experience!

Outside, the vineyards awaited for a long walk…

Contacts
Casa de Santa Vitória Sociedade Agro-Industrial, SA
Herdade da Malhada
7800 – 730 Santa Vitória
Tel: (+351) 284 970 170
Fax: (+351) 284 970 175
Email: info@santavitoria.pt
Website: www.santavitoria.pt