Key eras
Roman viticulture and the talha tradition
1st century BC to present
The Romans introduced fermenting and ageing wine in large clay talha vessels across the Alentejo plain. The practice never fully died out and survives around Vidigueira and Vila de Frades today.
The regional wine authority records that the Romans transformed wine into a cornerstone of Alentejo life and introduced the enduring practice of fermenting wine in talhas de barro, a tradition still an integral part of the Alentejo winemaking process today.
Muslim-era disruption and medieval recovery
8th to 15th century
Muslim occupation from the 8th century disrupted Alentejo viticulture, and vineyards were neglected and abandoned for long stretches. Wine growing recovered only gradually under the Christian Lusitanian kingdom, laying the ground for the region's later reputation.
The regional wine authority's own history records that the Alentejo relationship with wine inevitably began to wane and the vineyards were first neglected and then abandoned during this period.
Peramanca and the 16th-century wine renaissance
16th century
Wine growing revived under Portugal's Lusitanian kingdom, and the Alentejo produced celebrated wines such as Peramanca, cited by the regional wine authority as an example of the region's renewed 16th-century reputation.
The CVRA's own history page names Peramanca as a famous wine of this recovery period, evidence of the Alentejo's return to serious wine production after the medieval decline.
The Marquis of Pombal crisis and the Real Companhia Geral
1750s to 1780s
The Marquis of Pombal's creation of the Real Companhia Geral to control and prioritise Douro wine exports triggered a second major Alentejo crisis, forcing growers to uproot vines across the region in favour of the protected northern trade.
The regional wine authority's history records that the policy forced the uprooting of vines in many regions, including the Alentejo, as the Douro trade was given priority.
From Jesuit estate to Adega da Cartuxa
1759 to 1963
The Quinta de Valbom estate near Evora became crown property when the Marquis of Pombal extinguished the Jesuit order in 1759, and by 1776 it was operating as a wine press absorbing the region's surplus grapes. The Eugenio de Almeida family later acquired the property, and Vasco Maria Eugenio de Almeida established the Fundacao Eugenio de Almeida in 1963, the charitable foundation that still owns the winery.
The Fundacao's own wine-tourism page states that when the Marquis of Pombal gave the order to extinguish the Jesuit order in 1759 the estate became the property of the State, and that the Fundacao Eugenio de Almeida is a private foundation established in Evora by Vasco Maria Eugenio de Almeida in 1963.
Jose de Sousa and the talha custodianship, 1878
1878 to present
Casa Agricola Jose de Sousa Rosado Fernandes was established on the outskirts of Reguengos de Monsaraz in 1878 and became, for long stretches of the 20th century, one of the only Alentejo producers still fermenting wine in talha rather than steel or oak.
The producer record states that the winery was established on the outskirts of Reguengos de Monsaraz in 1878 as Casa Agricola Jose de Sousa Rosado Fernandes, with nearby vineyards at Herdade do Monte da Ribeira.
Alicante Bouschet's arrival at Herdade do Mouchao
late 1800s
The teinturier grape Alicante Bouschet, bred in France in 1855, found its lasting home in Portugal when it was first planted at Herdade do Mouchao in the late 1800s. It is now among the red varieties most closely identified with the region.
Wikipedia's entry on the grape states that it was first planted at Herdade do Mouchao in the late 1800s and that Alentejo became its true home outside France.
Herdade do Mouchao: the 1901 cellar and the first bottled label
1901 to 1954
The Reynolds family built Mouchao's current cellar in 1901, but the estate sold its wine in bulk for decades. Albert 'Bouncer' Reynolds bottled the first estate wine in 1949, and the Mouchao label made its debut with the 1954 harvest.
The estate's own history page states that the current winery building was built in 1901, that wines were sold in bulk until 1949 when Albert Bouncer Reynolds bottled the first wine at Mouchao, and that the 1954 harvest marked the debut of the Mouchao label.
Herdade do Mouchao's 1974 expropriation and 1986 return
1974 to 1986
Herdade do Mouchao was expropriated during the 1974 Revolution along with many large Alentejo estates, and was returned to the Reynolds family in 1986, a turning point that let the family resume its historic Alicante Bouschet winemaking.
The estate's own history page records that the estate was expropriated during the 1974 Revolution and returned to the Reynolds family in 1986.
Grand Medal of Honour, Berlin 1888
1888
A 19th-century agricultural revival brought Alentejo wine back onto the international stage: a Quinta das Reliquias white won the Grand Medal of Honour at the Berlin Exhibition in 1888, the event's most prestigious award and a rare early accolade for a Portuguese table wine.
The regional wine authority's history page records that a Quinta das Reliquias white wine won the Grand Medal of Honour at the Berlin Exhibition in 1888.
The Junta Nacional do Vinho and the cooperative spirit
1940s
Phylloxera and two world wars had devastated Alentejo production by the 1940s. Recovery began under the state's Junta Nacional do Vinho, which fostered the spirit of cooperation and mutual assistance among growers that still characterises the region's cooperative wineries today.
The CVRA's own history states that recovery began in the 1940s under the Junta Nacional do Vinho, which fostered a spirit of cooperation and mutual assistance.
The Estado Novo wheat campaign
1930s to 1950s
Portugal's authoritarian Estado Novo regime deliberately pushed Alentejo farmers to replant vineyards with wheat and other cereals, intent on turning the region into the country's breadbasket. By the 1950s little commercial wine production remained outside a handful of new cooperatives.
The regional guide states that vineyards were deliberately replanted with wheat and other cereals during the Estado Novo period, with the intention of making Alentejo Portugal's breadbasket, and that by the 1950s little commercial wine production existed in the area.
The Reguengos cooperative (CARMIM), 1971
1971
Sixty farmers around Reguengos de Monsaraz banded together in 1971 to found the Cooperativa Agricola de Reguengos de Monsaraz, now known as CARMIM. It grew into a 3,000-hectare grower cooperative, a direct descendant of the cooperative-era rebuilding of the region's wine economy.
CARMIM's own site states that the cooperative was founded in 1971 by 60 farmers and is a natural development of the Alentejo wine economy.
Herdade do Esporao: 1973 acquisition to the first vintage, 1985
1973 to 1989
Jose Roquette and agronomist Joaquim Bandeira acquired Herdade do Esporao in Reguengos de Monsaraz in 1973 with the aim of building a quality Alentejo wine brand. The first vintage under the Esporao name was released in 1985, and by 1989 the estate was exporting to what has since grown into more than fifty international markets.
Esporao's own history page states that 1973 was the year it was acquired by Jose Roquette and Joaquim Bandeira, that in 1985 the first vintage saw the creation of the Esporao brand and the first wine produced, and that in 1989 wine began being exported to what is now over 50 international markets.
PROVA and ATEVA: building toward DOC status
1977 to 1983
Two regional bodies, PROVA in 1977 and ATEVA in 1983, laid the quality-control groundwork that let the Alentejo formalise its first Denominacao de Origem Controlada zones later in the decade.
The regional wine authority's history page credits PROVA (1977) and ATEVA (1983) alongside the first DOCs (1988) and the CVRA (1989) with establishing the quality control systems that enabled modern Alentejo winemaking.
The first Alentejo DOCs and the founding of CVRA
1988 to 1989
Alentejo's first Denominacao de Origem Controlada zones were regulated in 1988, and the Comissao Vitivinicola Regional Alentejana was set up the following year as the private body certifying, controlling and promoting Alentejo PDO and Alentejano PGI wines, a role it still performs.
CVRA's about-us page states that it was founded in 1989 as a private institution dedicated to certifying, controlling and protecting the Alentejo PDO and Alentejano PGI wines.
The eight DOC subregions
1988 to 2003
Alentejo DOC is built from eight named subregions spanning the mountains to the hot interior plain: Portalegre, Borba, Evora, Redondo, Reguengos, Granja-Amareleja, Vidigueira and Moura. In 2003 the remaining regional IPRs were folded into a single unified Alentejo DOC alongside these named subzones.
Regional guides list the eight subregions as Portalegre, Borba, Evora, Redondo, Reguengos, Granja-Amareleja, Vidigueira and Moura, each entitled to its own label designation such as Alentejo Borba.
Joao Portugal Ramos and the founding of Vila Santa, 1997
1997
Influential oenologist Joao Portugal Ramos, who had spent years consulting for other Alentejo estates, began construction of his own Vila Santa winery near Estremoz in 1997, later enlarged into a 9,000 square metre facility.
The winery's own history page states that the construction of the Vila Santa winery in Estremoz begins in 1997, later enlarged into a 9,000 square metre facility.
DOC Vinho de Talha created, 2012
2012
The clay-vessel wines long made around Vidigueira and Vila de Frades received their own formal classification in 2012, when a DOC Vinho de Talha was introduced, turning what had been a locally consumed curiosity into a protected style with its own rules.
Turismo do Alentejo's own account of the tradition states that in 2012 a DOC Vinho de Talha was introduced, and what was once a locally consumed curiosity is now enjoying a renaissance.
The Wines of Alentejo Sustainability Programme (WASP), 2015
2013 to present
Planning for a region-wide sustainability scheme began in 2013 and WASP launched to producers in May 2015. It is a voluntary programme run by the CVRA assessing viticulture, cellar management, social responsibility and governance across member estates, and it is a sustainability certification, not an organic one.
The programme's own page states that WASP is a voluntary initiative organised by the Alentejo Regional Wine Growing Commission that targets the grape and wine producers in Alentejo, launched to producers in May 2015.
