Cortes de Cima Vinho Regional Alentejano Tinto
ALENTEJPO, PORTUGAL | 2020
Alentejo (Ah-len-tay-z-oh) is a sprawling wine region located in south central Portugal. It’s most famous city is Évora, a UNESCO World Heritage site, famous for its well-preserved Roman temple. Famous for its wine since Roman times, the region can be divided into four main DOC’s (there are 8 in total): Borba,, Redondo, Reguengos and Vidigueira.
It was in the 1980’s that the modern wineries began to boom in Alentejo. In the previous decade, the Portuguese military overthrew Salazar’s authoritarian regime. This year marked 50 years since the Carnation Revolution. So you could imagine that in the 1980’s as a small percentage of Portugal’s population became wealthy, some invested in large properties in the region. While there had been a long history of grape growing in the region, many of these newcomers planted not just local varieties, but also the so called international varieties including Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Chardonnay and more.
It is important to give you this context to help you understand the changes that are happening in Alentejo. Cortes de Cima is a well known producer in Vidigueira. The property is 400 hectares of contiguous land and once was planted to as much as 240 hectares of vines by owners Carrie and Hans Jørgensen.
A few years ago, this all changed when their daughter Anna took over the project. She cut the amount of vines from 240 to 64 hectares. The property now treated with a holistic approach, with regenerative and organic agriculture. Employing biodynamic farming, including reintroducing animals on the property. Anna didn’t do this on her own, and they enlisted some very important names in the business to help. This includes Pedro Parra to help them with a soil analysis of the vineyards and Marco Simmonit, one of the leading authorities on pruning in the world.
In just a short time, the results of this hard work can be found in their wines. This month we introduce you to the Cortes de Cima Tinto, which is the flagship wine of the estate. A blend of Syrah and Touriga Franca, the fruit used is a selection of their best granite and limestone vineyards. Due to the warmth of the region, Anna and her team pick at night, and the grapes are fermented with their natural yeast, 30% of which is whole bunch. The aging is in a combination of 225 and 500 liter French oak barrels for one year, with another year of resting in stainless steel tanks.
A beautiful red wine that offers notes of blackberries, blackcurrants, savory and aromatic dried herbs. The palate is medium weight, but there is a freshness to the Cortes de Cima wines, something intentional as they look to make balanced and food friendly wines. This would be a great pairing with a vegetarian stuffed pepper dish, or lamb kofta.