In the same family for over 200 years, the estate has its heart at the monte, an ancient small farming village, which has been brought carefully back to life as a remarkable hotel of understated luxury, surrounded by ancient holm oaks, olive groves and vineyards. Here, the feeling of being at home is intimately connected with the sense of belonging to the vastness of the land. In Alentejo, farm and landscape soon become your home.
In the same family for over 200 years, the estate has its heart at the monte, an ancient small farming village, which has been brought carefully back to life as a remarkable hotel of understated luxury, surrounded by ancient holm oaks, olive groves and vineyards. Here, the feeling of being at home is intimately connected with the sense of belonging to the vastness of the land. In Alentejo, farm and landscape soon become your home.
A history that dates back to megalithic times
Inhabited since Neolithic times by sedentary tribes, São Lourenço do Barrocal was once the epicentre of the megalithic culture of Central Alentejo. Visiting the estate is a true voyage through time from the Iron and Bronze Age through the Roman and Moorish occupation to recent times. In the nineteenth-century, it grew to become a thriving small farming village, providing enough livestock, grain, vegetables and wine to sustain up to 50 resident families year-round. With its own workshop rooms, schoolroom and bullring, it was home to a tight-knit community who dwelled there happily for many years.
José António Uva is the eighth generation of the same family to have lived at São Lourenço do Barrocal, and is the lead developer on the estate. Having spent much of his childhood here with his family listening to tales of the thriving estate, José was determined to bring the community back to life in a manner that respected its unique ecology and ancient history. That was his starting point for the development of an ambitious project – the rejuvenation of the entire estate as a farm retreat –, so that others could feel as at home here as he always was.
The Legacy
São Lourenço do Barrocal wines are made with extreme care from grapes produced on the estate and harvested by hand, following an organic production method*. These are high-quality wines, which continue a cycle of self-sustainability, present in this agricultural property since its foundation in 1820, and which represent the innovative impulse of its founder, Manuel Mendes Papança, whose efforts led to the creation of the wine community of Monsaraz and the region as a demarcated winemaking area.
In a typical Alentejo climate, but under the influence of Lake Alqueva, the grapes grow on the estate with respect for nature and the ancestry of the granite outcrops, privileging time, like everything that takes place at Barrocal. From vines developing in granite and clay soils, punctuated by Monsaraz shales, where they create deep roots for greater resilience and robustness, grapes are born with great freshness and acidity, ripening gradually, to be harvested under careful curation. Meticulous dedication is given to the selection of each variety and its subsequent integration in production.
Manual, natural production, with its own identity
The creation of products of excellent quality has an unequivocal origin in the manual detail with which they approach all the stages of the process of making their wines, in a closed cycle taking place entirely inside the estate. Each plot of the vineyard is worked individually, with greater optimisation of resources, the vast majority of plots being watered only by the action of the few drops of rain of the Alentejo. The grapes suffer less during harvesting and selection, both handmade with meticulousness. The contemporary and fresh profile of the wines demonstrates the preservation of the identity of the Alentejo vineyards and the unique terroir of Monsaraz, where foreign varieties also thrive, as well as the balance that can only be obtained by natural processes, which privilege acidity and the non-presence of additives.
Organic wines with deep roots
São Lourenço do Barrocal wines care for the preservation of the biodiversity and natural resources of the Alentejo, and of the estate where they are crafted, guaranteeing the continuation of a 200-year-old family legacy and the practice of self-sustainable agriculture, which respects nature's cycles and uses organic production. Careful work with the vineyards and grapes gives rise to 'high expression' blends under an exclusive brand since 2011. They are wines with a current profile, open to the world, but with deep roots in its land made of granite rocks and hot weather.
The estate's vineyards were undergoing conversion to the organic production method until the end of 2020. The first harvest subject to certification will take place in 2021, representing another step in restoring a self-sustainable cycle, which favours the preservation of nature, the historic roots of the property and the production of limited editions of high quality wine.
A winery crucial to the regeneration of the ‘monte’ and farming estate
The winery represents one of the crucial areas for the regeneration of the estate, producing first-class single-estate wines, created by the award-winning winemaker Susana Esteban. From its own 15 hectares of vineyards, come the hand-picked grapes which form the basis of limited bottlings, the remaining grapes carefully blended before being matured. The winery comprises a symmetrical vault that is home to two fermentation vats for grape-stomping, and seven concrete vats. Adjacent, you can find a room with French oak barrels and clay amphorae.
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