Visit to Alentejo and Herdade da Mingorra.

Just south of Beija and 1,5 hours drive from Vila Real de Santo Antonio in the south part of Alentejo there is a concentration of very good wineries with great history and tradition of making wines. The best way of course is to experience the wine and local food that naturally marries together where it’s made.

One of our favorits is Herdade da Mingorra that Kristina and I have visited a few times before, for wine tasting and also to buy wine, but this time we (all together eight people) booked an overnights stay with guided tour, wine tasting and dinner.

Arriving a beautiful afternoon at 16 hours we were received and showed to our rooms by our host Sofia Uva, after leaving our things in the assigned rooms we Sofia gave us a tour in the winery explaining the process as well as the history of this family project ”Herdade da Mingorra; making wine, olive oil and recently also extending with almond trees.

Then we got some time for ourselves, a few of us when for a walk down to a small lake that is one of the important water reserves and now specially for the almond production. At around 19 hours we met after getting freshen up in the court yard for some cold cuts and white and sparkling wine. The cold cuts was all locally made consisting of different cheese, salami, ham and then something sensational; meat from partridg in olive oil!

After that we were invited in to the house for the dinner, Sofia and her sisters Maria and Marta made us feel at home, the dinner was excellent with a verity of red wines including a Late Harvest to the desert. It was a joy the listen to the sisters Uva and their enthusiasm when they talked about wine making and the rest of the business as well as to the attention that the birthday celebration for one of us in the group. At the dessert we had the pleasure to meet Mingorras winemaker Pedro that talked about making wine in general and from Mingorras point of views in particular.