Torres Vedras/Alenquer, European Wine City of 2018
by
Terry Sullivan
European Wine Cities (Recevin) has promoted wine since the year 2000. This organization is a tool to defend the interests of European local administrators who are economically linked to wine. There are eleven European countries that are members of Recevin: Austria, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia and Spain. One of the main events of Recevin is the awarding of the European Wine City of the Year. In 2018 this award went to Torres Vedras/Alenquer, two municipalities north of Lisbon in Portugal.
During our March wine journey through Portugal, we visited four wineries in Torres Vedras/Alenquer and met the mayors of the two municipalities (pictured left). Carlos Manuel Antunes Bernarde is the mayor of the Torres Vedras and Pedro Folgado is the mayor of Alenquer. Both mayors accompanied our group at the wineries in their municipalities and during lunch. European cities that wish to win the European Wine City of the Year award must submit a video. The five-minute video must show the city’s historical relationship with wine, its culture, its wine passion and wine awards.
In this area north of Lisbon, a decree was signed in 1209 indicating that vineyards were cultivated in the region that is bordered by the Tagus River and the Atlantic Ocean.
The municipalities Torres Vedras/Alenquer are gearing up for the thousands of visitors they will receive during 2018. They want visitors to not only know about the region’s wines, but also learn about the region itself. There are dozens of activities linked to wine including technical courses, concerts at wineries and wine tastings. Wine enthusiasts will discover that the people involved with the wine industry talk about wine with a passion.
The wineries in the municipalities Torres Vedras/Alenquer are pleased with the award of European Wine City of 2018. The wineries are delighted that the local governments recognize the economic importance of their wineries. Most wineries in the area export more wine than they sell locally. They are known beyond the Torres Vedras/Alenquer region. Not only are the wineries happy with this distinction, so are lodging facilities who are looking forward to the increased tourism to the region. Restaurants in the area are the ambassadors of the regions wines.
We visited four wineries in the region. We first visited Alenquer where we went to Casa Santos Lima and Quinta do Monte d’Oira. We had a wonderful lunch at Quinta do Monte d’Oira. During the afternoon, we visited two wineries in Torres Vedras: Quinta da Folgorosa and Quinto de São Domingos. At each of these four wineries, we met passionate people who have a love of the land and a love of wine. Perhaps José Melícias, general manager at Quinta da Folgorosa, said it the best, “This is a peaceful place. You can always hear birds. We are a half hour from the Lisbon airport. A half hour to paradise.”
Read our articles on the winery visits in:
Alenquer
Casa Santos Lima
Quinta do Monte d’Oira
Torres Vedras
Quinta da Folgorosa
Quinto de São Domingos
Article written April 2018.
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