Alentejo wines are generally classified in two ways—under the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), Alentejo Denominação de Origem, or the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), Vinho Regional Alentejano. Each category has its own requirements, but for quality producers, they’re not so different. For the sake of brevity, the designations Alentejo and Alentejano will only be used only to avoid confusion, though subregions are mentioned for emphasis.

Cabeças do Reguengo

Cabeças do Reguengo is a small winery started in 2009  in Portalegre, a portion of which was a mixed field of centenarian vines. The Respiro Zizi Branco Portalegre 2022 ($50) issues from some of these. Decidedly dry, this Branco (white) has a caramel and beeswax richness with an array of citrus flavors like orange, tangerine, and lemon zest, freshened by a zap of acidity. Simply delicious. 

Fitapreta

Fitapreta is the first winery of ground-breaking vintner António Maçanitá, who makes wine in several regions of Portugal, with a preference for working with under-appreciated grape varieties. His white, o Ancestral 2023 ($27)—a field blend of Roupeiro, Rabo de Ovelha, Arinto, Tamarez, Alicante Branco, and Antão Vaz—is full of poppy citrusy notes like lemon and orange zest, creamy lemon curd, hints of fennel, and just plain freshness. His Branco de Talha 2024 ($28) is an amphora-aged, golden wine that eschews some of the Vinho de Talha requirements in favor of delicacy and finesse. A kiss of tannin fans a fado of kumquat, pineapple, and almond flavors.

Barely-ruby hued, Chao dos Eremitas Tinta Carvalha 2022 ($75) is made from indigenous Carvalha. At 12.5% alcohol, low for Alentejo, it’s mouthwatering, with pomegranate flavors accented by rose petal and graphite. More robust and darker in color is the Tinto Castelão 2021 ($47), which showcases bright red cherry flavors, fresh and cordial, with bright acidity. Chill for simple enjoyment or lose in the cellar for several years to deepen its earthiness. Os Paulistas 2020 ($112), a blend of several grapes takes things up the ladder in terms weight and texture: both velvety and earthy at once, with a palate of wild berries and a pinch of wild herbs. 

Herdade do Esporão

Herdade do Esporão is centered on a noble Alentejan property in the Reguengos subregion, dating to the 13th century, which released its first wines only in 1985. Its range is varied and large. Despite its size— over 2500 acres, 1000 of them planted to vines. A blend of local heroes, Antão Vaz, Arinto, and Rouperio, Reserva Branco 2022 ($24) indulges with white fruit—quince and pear, russet apple, and robe of beeswax encapsulated in spicy oak. Delicious now, it has the structure for aging a decade or more. 

The red (Tinto) Reserva 2022 (26) is a wine that might only be made in Alentejo, blending Alicante Bouschet with Trincadeira, Touriga Nacional, Aragonez, and Cabernet Sauvignon and offers a combination of sweet and peppery spice and ripe red berry flavors, confidently structured by velvety tannin. The 2021 and 2020, both on the market, show fascinating vintage differences in blend and profile. AB Alicante Bouschet 2015 (~$52) demonstrates why Alentejans love this usually dismissed grape: this is sappy, yet energetic, bursting with bright red and dark fruit flavors, a dusting of cacao, and a pinch of spice. Over a decade old, it still has a long future. 

Also a touch sappy, but far from lazy, is Private Selection 2019 ($78), which blends Alicante Bouschet, Aragonez (aka, Tempranillo), and Tourigas Nacional and Franca into a whole of vibrant red and blue berry, sweet spice, and juicy acidity, all borne by velvety, substantial tannin. Lose for a decade. Add another, or two, for the Torre 2017 ($300).  A similar blend to the Private Selection, this is ripe, indulgent, full of dark berry, bitter mint chocolate, and spice, with refreshing acidity that offsets some of its alcohol. This is a wine for collectors or investors who want to live large.

Herdade do Mouchão

Herdade do Mouchão was founded in the late 1880s by the Reynolds family of Great Britain, which introduced Alicante Bouschet to Alentejo. One branch of the family still owns the estate, and its dedication to the grape is rewarded by wines such as the Tinto 2017 ($65). It starts with spicy blueberry and maple notes then evolves into late summer raspberry and resinous hints of lavender and bramble. The tannins are firm but also fine, everything freshened by vibrant acidity. 

João Portugal Ramos

João Portugal Ramos has wineries in various parts of Portugal, but its origins are in Alentejo, specifically Borba, in the marble-soiled zone of Estremoz. Its wines universally express the warmth of Alentejo. Marquês de Borba Branco Vinhas Velhas 2023 ($20) blends Arinto, Roupeiro, Antão Vaz, and Alvarinho into a fruit-laden, minerally wine woven with oak that will be fascinating in three or four years. 

The red version Marquês de Borba Vinhas Velhas 2023 ($20) is an expression of wild-berry flavors from a blend led by Alicante-Bouschet. The tannins are tight but round, a veritable bargain to age. More mature sibling Marquês de Borba Reserva 2021 ($75) is one of Alentejo’s grand wines, with a sense of noble decadence from the blend of Trincadeira, Aragonez, Alicante Bouschet, and Cabernet Sauvignon.  The wine shows signs of the savory notes of development, a touch of fresh suede and soy, but the red fruit is sumptuous, the tannins have a silken velvety quality, and the acidity is completely à point. Think a decade or more.

Natus Vini

Natus Vini is a small winery established in Vidigueira, Alentejo’s coolest subregion, by the winemaker at Herdade de Mouchão. The farming is regenerative, and traditional winemaking practices are followed that include two days of foot trodding, fermenting in 19th century talhas, and aging in century-old barrels. Made mostly from Trincadeira and Castelão the Tinto 2022 ($48) delivers exhilarating freshness, with bright, but earthy aromas of hibiscus, cherry, and ripe pomegranate, underlined by mineral notes. Wonderful.

Quinta de São José de Peramanca

Quinta de São José de Peramanca, close to the city of Évora, dates back to the 17th century. The current owners only planted vines in 2003.  Despite the relative youth of the vines, the flagship Pêra Velha Grande Reserva 2016 ($105) is an exemplar of what Alentejo wines traditionally were: lusty, warm, and full of flavor, yet, also with a certain elegance. Officially a blend of Trincadeira, Syrah, and Alicante Bouschet, this offers peppery red and dark fruit flavors with notes of braised meat, balanced by mouthwatering acidity.  Alentejo for a Napa Cab lover.

Susana Estéban

Susana Estéban, one of Alentejo’s most thoughtful winemakers, comes from Galicia, Spain. She was drawn to Portalegre for its treasury of old, mixed grape, mountain vineyards, and makes several field blend cuvées that are almost astonishingly energetic. Her A Centenária Vinhas Velhas 2023 ($50) offers a pageant of mixed cherry flavors, ripe and tart at once, accented with a deep sense of minerality from her granitic soils. There’s enough softness of flavor to enjoy now, yet also the structure to lose for some years. 

Symington Family

The Symington Family, which owns several famed Port wine lodges (Graham’s, Dow’s, Cockburn’s, etc.), were drawn to Portalegre for the freshness offered by cool air coming down from the São Mamede mountains, and the schist and granite soils of the vineyards they bought. Quinta da Fonte Souto Portalegre White 2023 ($32) is a beautiful expression of verve from Arinto and Verdelho, offering the acidity, minerality, citrus and apple flavors, with a kiss of oak that would be familiar to fans of white Burgundy. The parallel red Quinta da Fonte Souto Portalegre Red 2020 ($32) is all about savor. Led by Alicante-Bouschet, this four+ variety blend (some are unidentified) is sultry, spicy, and mineral almost to the point of saline, with an abundance of wild, brambly raspberry flavors to balance things out. 

XXVI Talhas

XXVI Talhas was started as a passion project by a group of friends to preserve the tradition of talha wines in their village of Vila Alva. In 2018, they established themselves in the workshop of a talha-winemaking carpenter, Mester Daniel, whose 26 talhas de barro (clay amphoras) remained three decades after his death. The Mestre Daniel XXVI Talha X 2022 ($45) is a single-amphora blend of five indigenous white grapes that might turn cynics of amphora-aged, skin-contact wines into believers, with its bust of yellow-stone fruit flavors that settle into spicy russet apple with peppery tannin. The fruit feels ripe, even sweet, but the experience is savory, peppery, and dry. 

Tapada de Coelheiros

Tapada de Coelheiros is a large estate dating back to the 15th century that includes oak and pine forests, walnut and olive groves. Many of the grape varieties planted here are from elsewhere, as the majority Cabernet Sauvignon Tapada de Coelheiros 2019 ($45) demonstrates. But there’s also a sense of historic Alentejo, too, buffeted by the juicy blueberry and floral spice from the Alicante Bouschet. This wine has no body issues—it’s robust, but it’s in terrific shape. If you like tannic grip, open it early. If you prefer it softer, wait.