Herdade de Torais lies in the heart of the Alentejo, between Montemor-o-Novo and Évora . This 200-hectare estate belongs to the Sociedade Agricola de Torais Lda., with Fernando Pedro Pereira Coutinho as the principal partner. This estate is dedicated to growing grains and raising cattle, and, more recently, to grape growing and wine making.
Livestock includes 100 crossbred cows and three purebred Limousin bulls, with the calves being weaned at about 6/7 months and sold for fattening or for slaughter.
Permanent pasturelands are seeded in various types of underground clover and exclusively intended to feed the cattle of this estate.
The grains – oats, triticale and mixtures – feed our livestock and create seed for the following year, in an attempt to make the farm self-sufficient.
The estate has a typical Alentejo farmhouse, where the owner lives and enjoys entertaining friends.
The vineyards comprises 20 hectares that were planted in 2002 and 2003. They lie in the Évora sub-region, within the PDO Alentejo. The vineyards are planted on brown Mediterranean soils, mostly gneiss and sandy loam, at an altitude of 190 metres above sea level, receiving 3,000 hours of sunlight and 700 mm rainfall per annum.
Only red varieties are grown, with Trincadeira and Aragonez representing 7 hectares each, Syrah, Alicante Bouschet and Cabernet Sauvignon 2 hectares each and one half hectare of Touriga Nacional.
Studies are underway about the feasibility of regrafting a small percentage of the vines with white varieties.
Pedro Alpendre, agricultural engineer, professor at the University of Évora and consultant to many wine companies, manages the vineyards.
Wine making was begun in 2004 with the deliberate decision to limit ourselves to small production with a preference for quality over quantity. At this moment, our annual production is just 20,000 bottles.
The head winemaker is Diogo Campilho. As well as an oenology degree from the UTAD – the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro – he brings experience garnered in Australia and that of being the head winemaker of a large family winery in the Ribatejo.
Our wines are aimed at the premium wine market. The goal is not to place wine in huge retail outlets but in restaurants and wine and gourmet shops where consumers might receive information so as to better understand our products’ characteristics and peculiarities.
Our first red wine Torais 2004 was made from perfectly even proportions of Trincadeira and Aragonez grapes. Later years brought Syrah, Alicante Bouschet, Cabernet Sauvignon and Touriga Nacional into the blends in different proportions, yielding fresh, concentrated and aromatic wines with well-balanced acidity.
During harvest, grapes are hand-harvested and transported to the winery in small 10 kg boxes. Fermentation takes place in temperature-controlled stainless steel lagares (low tanks). The wines are then aged in French and American barrels for different periods of time.
In 2005 we began producing a lighter red, aromatic and less concentrated red released under the label Cinco Charcas.
In 2008, a pilot test of white wine began with high quality grapes sourced from selected grape growers. The wine was made and matured in our winery under the guidance of in-house specialists and released under the label Torais. Made from Antão Vaz, Verdelho and Arinto grapes, the wine was fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats and spent a short time in French oak.
The Herdade do Torais Red has already received numerous national and international medals including:
Silver medal at the International Wine Challenge 2006 (London)
Gold medal at the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 2007
Silver medal at the International Wine Challenge 2007 (London)
Silver medal at the Wine Masters Challenge 2007 (Estoril)
Silver medal at the Concurso Nacional de Vinhos Engarrafados 2007
Silver medal at the Wine Masters Challenge 2010 (Estoril)
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