03 Wine

 Wine of the Algarve    
 
Wine is a big tradition in Portugal dating back thousands of years. Several invading cultures gave their input in the evolution of the Portuguese wine of today. Well founded theories mention the first wine plantations in the Iberian Peninsula around 2000 BC by the Tartessians. New grape varieties were introduced by the Phoenicians as early as 1000 BC. Greeks followed with more developed wine growing around 700 BC. New varieties were introduced by the Celts about 600 years BC.

About 200 years BC the Romans arrived with large troops that required copious amounts of good wine. In this period particularly the techniques of wine plantation and production were substantially developed. A huge export structure was established as Rome greatly desired the strong and fruity wine of the Iberian Peninsula. Demand was often higher than the production capacity of the region.

The Romans named this wine producing land Lusitania. Lusitania, the Roman province, which is today Portugal, gained this name mythically from Luso. It is said that Luso was the companion or son of Bacchus, the god of feasting and wine (a statue of Bacchus, created already around 1650 in southern Europe, is the centre part of  the entrance to the wine tasting area) .

Despite religious obstacles, wine cultivation did not suffer too much during the 5 centuries of Moorish rule. The Moors not only cultivated new wine plantations but also started to export it. This export business was reduced only in the 11th and 12th century when the influential religious leaders demanded that the rules of the Koran should be applied. 

Wine was the most exported product when Portugal was founded. A significant increase in production took place after 1350 resulting in strong export capacities. From the late 14th century Portugal started to discover the world by ship. Nearly all of these vessels had Portuguese wine on board which made the Portuguese wine at this time the most well known wine in the world.

Good relations in the beginning of the 18th century between England and Portugal made favourable duty rights possible for Portuguese wines which led to another increase in exports. Alto Douro became shortly after the first delimited region for wine in the world.
The Phylloxera plague which destroyed nearly all European wine plantations in the 19th century damaged the winegrowing activities and Portugal’s position in the international wine market strongly. The wine production started slowly to recover by the end of the 19th century but it is only now that signs are visible of the former strength. Today Portugal is ranked seventh in the largest wine-producing countries of the world.

Wines produced in the middle and north of Portugal have been known to the international market for many years but only in the last 15 years have wines from the Alentejo region become renowned.

Only in recent years has the Algarve regained market acceptance for some excellent wines which started to become known by wine enthusiasts. The Algarvian wines with focus of the wine from Lagoa have always been popular within Portugal as the region has geographical advantages like few other areas in Portugal. The southerly location with an average sunshine of more than 3.000 hours per year develops a special micro climate assisted by the sea on one side and the mountains of the Serra of Monchique on the other side. While the mountains protect against the cold winds from the north, they establish also the basis for a kind of south-facing amphitheatre, guaranteeing a perfect climate for a perfect wine with a well defined fruity taste, higher alcohol levels and lower acidity contents.

Unfortunately small seasonal variations, no extreme temperature changes, plenty of sun, sufficient water in the winter, rocky, non-humid soil do not alone guarantee the perfect wine. A perfect wine requires not only a lot of attention in the vineyard but also in the wine cellar. Wine needs to keep its regional character but has to develop all the strength which the fruit is able to give.

Mass production or cheap production is not the way to produce high quality wine. Algarvian winemakers with the assistance of the Mediterranean climate, substantial investments in the wine cellar and enough enthusiasm, should soon see Algarvian wine finds its international recognition.  

Vineyard                   
 
The Algarve had less rain than usual for a normal winter during the months between November and February 2006/07 and unseasonably warm temperatures. A warm spring followed and in these relatively dry conditions the vines were in bud early, around the last week of March. Early summer temperatures approaching 30°C made excellent conditions for the vines and flowering began in the last week of April.

Flowering is a significant part of the grape growing process as cold weather or too much rainfall can reduce and damage the emerging fruit. The formation of well formed flowers leads to well formed grapes; the base of high quality wine. The modest rainfall during March until June ensured the regular development and fast growing of the grapes. A hot and dry July followed.

To increase the quality of the wine and to achieve higher intensities of colour and flavour and stronger phenol elements, we started to reduce the yield which is called “green harvest” in the second week of July. This was done especially with the regional variety Castelão (also known as Periquita) which is a hearty, robust and dry red wine grape which can be upgraded to an excellent wine grape when the yield is reduced to about 50% of the normal quantities, as in our vineyards. The climatic conditions, so far, were quite normal.

We expected high temperatures during the summer especially as large parts of southern Europe had already suffered from extreme temperatures in the early summer. Luckily we escaped these extreme weather conditions. July until the end of August brought us warm to medium hot temperatures without rain. This weather combination during the important ripening phase resulted in a slowing down of the sugar increase and helped to keep more acidity in the grapes. This was very welcome as it leads to balanced wines with good colour and structure after the harvesting.
 
Harvest and Winemaking

 
Grape picking started relatively late on 24th August and ended 26th September. The average production of Periquita was around 3,900 kg per hectare, while we harvested 3.800 kg from the Aragonez crop and from our Trincadeira crop only about 3,200 kg per hectare. Rainfall at the end of August as well as in the middle and end of September required some flexibility in our harvesting schedule. Nevertheless we managed to pick the grapes mostly under perfect conditions.

Grapes were hand picked and placed in small boxes of 10 kg each. They were stored overnight in our cooling room and were then placed on conveyor belts where they underwent a strict grading process by hand. This process is imperative in order to avoid having green leaves or unripe/low quality grapes brought into the fermentation process. Following the crushing and mechanical separation of grapes and stems the grape juice and the skins stayed together during the first fermentation process of between 8 and 10 days.

As part of our wine making process we choose a mechanically controlled open fermentation process in stainless steel tanks which allows regular contact of the skins and liquid to oxygen. All our wine making equipment has been renewed this year which has enabled us to keep the stainless steel fermentation tanks strictly temperature controlled during the fermentation process. During this process sugar is converted into alcohol and the colour and phenols are extracted from the skins.

This year our vineyards developed a promising, powerful wine with substantial colour. The second fermentation period, called the malolactic fermentation started immediately after the pressing when the skin and the liquid were separated and the young wine siphoned into special storage tanks.

Our top wines which show the promise to produce the finest quality will, at the end of the malolactic fermentation, undergo an additional upgrading and maturation process in our new French oak barrels which hold 225 litres each. This is a more complicated and cost intensive process but it allows us to extract and develop some of the otherwise undiscovered characteristics you find in superior wines.