We headed south from Évora on Thursday past the town of Beija and our first stop was to the beautifully secluded Herdade dos Lagos. Here we were greeted by Helena, who as farm manager seems to hold a multitude of roles and responsibilities – the first of which was to totally engage us with a driving passion for what she does. Herdade dos Lagos is set in 1000 hectares of land that comprises vineyards, olive groves, carob trees, Merino and other rare breed sheep and two amazing dogs! The walk around a small part of the farm was tranquil and allowed Helena to talk deeply about the philosophy of the estate and the long term aims of the project. It has been in the same family now for 40 years and they are committed to maintaining a very high level of sustainability as well as being organically certified for their vineyards.
After the walk, we sat outside on the patio of the family house and tasted through a wonderful selection of wines. As is to be expected, Aragonez and Touriga Nacional are the key grapes but they also have an experimental plot where they test over 150 grapes to se how they work in their terroir.
This was a truly super visit.
From Dos Lagos it was just 30 minutes to Herdade do Malhadinha Nova – another family owned estate that was set up in 1998 by João Soares. This has a completely different mood as the estate also has some Relais & Chateaux rooms, a Michelin recommended restaurant, Lusitano horses and rare breed pigs and cattle.
We headed straight in for a delicious lunch with shoulder of pork as the excellent main course. We were then very lucky to not only see some grapes arriving and being sorted but Nuno the winemaker was available to host our tasting. This was a masterclass in understanding the minutiae of the Alentejo wine scene, the effects (or otherwise) of climate change and the top class wines that are produced at Malhadinha.
A top class day.
