São Lourenço do Barrocal
Hotel & Monte Alentejano, in the foothills of Monsaraz, Portugal, amidst the vineyards, olive groves and ancient holm oaks of a 19th c. family estate.
About the winery
A good wine should mirror the place where its grapes are born in - the terroir - and at the very core of São Lourenço do Barrocal’s identity there is a deeply rooted respect for nature. It’s because of this that our winemaking and agricultural teams chose an organic approach to the way we grow our vineyards, a method that has been fully certified. Everything comes down to one main idea: to respect nature and let it fill your wine glass. The winery is an integral part of the monte and the estate’s regeneration, producing first-class single-estate wines. From its own 15 hectares of vineyards, come the hand-picked grapes which form the basis of limited bottlings, the remaining grapes carefully blended before being matured. With 2 fermentation vats for grape-stomping, 14 concrete traditional tanks with a total capacity of 80.000 liters and a room lined with French oak barrels and clay amphorae, it’s a space dedicated to the production, bottling and labeling of the estate’s own editions.
Learn more about São Lourenço do Barrocal and their facilities at:
Location
Monsaraz, Alentejo
History & Geography
A little over 200 years ago Manuel Mendes Papança dared to undertake a challenging and innovating endeavour. During the 19th cent., Papança (São Lourenço do Barrocal’s first owner) started to shape the Monsaraz region. He purchased vast stretches of land previously owned by the Portuguese royal family that was used as hunting grounds, and decided to divide them into smaller patches. His goal was to give them to local farming families with the proviso that they would plant 1 ha of vineyards. The plan was a success: it resulted in over one million vines being planted, thus establishing the foundation of the Reguengos “Protected Designation of Origin”. From then on, the estate has been passed on from owner to owner never leaving the original family and that detail has been paramount for keeping one of the most important aspects of the current wine project: staying true to the identity of an independently owned small winery that values quality over quantity.
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