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Alentejo producers are constantly seeking a balance between production, prestigious wines and diversity. You get the idea.
Step by step, slowly but inexorably, Touriga Franca is expanding from its Douro origins and becoming more and more popular with winemakers in other parts of the country. Anyone who has recently visited Herdade de São Miguel in Alentejo, a few kilometers from Évora, will understand why. One of the grapes planted in 2004 at Herdade da Pimenta has just reached the final stages of fermentation and presents an irresistible form. Its color and density foreshadow a wine with extraordinary aromas, full of ripe fruits and floral notes. Its palate is impressive, with vegetal tannins confirming its powerful structure, capable of delivering a desired harmony.
The San Miguel estate uses a wide variety of grape varieties and if Arinto from the Vidigueira area offers a lot of promise with its spicy acidity and high citrus freshness, Touriga Franca is the starting point for designing a great red wine. This year’s harvest was difficult, with low productivity and, in some vineyards, difficulties with the natural ripening process caused problems. However, winemaker Alexandre Relvas admits that we will make great wines.
Herdade de São Miguel is a young protagonist in the history of Portuguese wine. The estate’s first 175 hectares were purchased 20 years ago. They were later joined by Herdade da Pimenta and this year by Herdades dos Pisões in Vidigueira. The company currently has a total of around 100 hectares of vineyards. Herdade de São Miguel sells 5 million bottles of wine per year, 70% of which are exported (Belgium and Brazil are the main markets).
If entry-level wines (Ciconia and Herdade de São Miguel Colheita Seleciconada) are the natural basis of the company’s business, diversification is its latest obsession. There is work on engraved or tanned white wines in the Art-Terra project, and single grape varieties also have a place. There we return to Touriga Franca. Casa Agrícola Alexandre Relvas is neither the only nor the first to explore this vein (see the first-class ladder). But your suggestion is worth it. We must wait with high expectations what 2017 will bring. In its early days, it is insistent and it is extraordinary.
Until then, the company offers a wide range of very interesting wines at reasonable prices, even from the Art-Terra range (the whites are particularly delicious). Anyone who has been lucky enough to keep a previous edition of the Reserva or Private Selection should also consider themselves lucky. The 2006 Reserva had enough structure and acidity to keep for many years. The 2009 equivalent has incredible strength – these wines from the recent harvest are available for around 18 euros. The 2007 Private Selection shows extraordinary aromatic richness and harmony (the latest edition costs an average of 43 euros). However, those who only keep the Colheita Seleccionado can rest assured: we tasted the 2008 vintage and it was delicious.
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