Alentejo, Portugal’s vast southern province, is a feudal land. Estates, some many thousands of acres, mainly produce the cork for which the region is known and olives. Cattle, pigs and cereal crops also fill large swaths stretching into the distant horizon. Vines cover a relatively small area, but economically they are becoming the most important crop as the reputation of the wines they yield has grown in the last 20 years after a decade-long interruption.
The historically feudal nature of Alentejo farming, with its large paternal estates, were a prime target for the communists who ran Portugal briefly after the end of the fascist regime in 1974. Many properties were nationalized for as long as 10 years, their crops sold to cooperatives. After this, estates had to be restored before they could begin seriously producing and making wine again.
That’s why, while the legacies of the herdades (the word means homesteads) in Alentejo are often long, many of their stories take more recent twists, often under new ownership. These estates represent a fascinating intertwining of the ancient and modern—a paradigm for Portugal’s wine.
