In the incessant search for forgotten Alentejo and lost grape varieties, in the Chão dos Eremitas vineyard, planted in 1970, there is a clear presence of Alicante Branco, Trincadeira-das-Pratas and Tinta Carvalha. These varieties have been disappearing because they have little color and low alcohol content, which is so necessary in an increasingly hot Alentejo.

The recovery of the treasures kept by the old vineyards, guarantee that one day, these same varieties may exist, and then return to their rightful place in the blend of the great Alentejo varieties.

Chão dos Eremitas, are we really in Alentejo?

The ever-growing green vegetation makes one believe that this picture might not be part of the Alentejo! It is clear that we are in a truly special and different place: of granite soils, at the southern base of the Serra d'Ossa it receives rainwater through 2 streams that cut through the Chão dos Eremitas vineyard, allowing the water table to never go below 5 meters, when the normal in the region is to bore more than 100 meters to find water. Books show that in these places where the vineyards were planted in Alentejo, some of the most emblematic wines, are named after Ribeiro or are close to one, leaving the other lands, for lands of bread, read cereals, because the cereal cycle, is set with the rain.

And what is the real meaning of the name of the vineyard, Chão dos Eremitas?

This is where the vineyards used to be planted, the place was known as the Chão dos Eremitas (Hermit's Ground), "Ground" being the ancient term for a flat area, and "Hermit's" referring to the Hermit monks of the Order of Saint Paul. Here there is evidence of uninterrupted wine production since the 14th century, the vineyard was of such importance that a Papal Bull in 1397 exempts the "Pauperes Hermitas" from paying taxes on their vineyards. But archeology goes further, as the discovery of the only Phoenician wine amphora in the interior of the country, dating from the 8th century BC, links this place to wine about 900 years before the arrival of the Romans, in what amounts to 3,000 years of wine-related history.

It is truly a privilege to be able to taste the vision of the time!

To work an old vineyard is to be able to take grandma's old cookbook and rescue all the nostalgic flavors and aromas lost to the present. This rescue brings different readings of terroir and the magic of deciphering what someone thought to do or wanted to build with the grape varieties they planted there.

The Chão dos Eremitas allows us to work with grape varieties that are almost extinct in the Alentejo vineyard. The grape varieties present in Chão dos Eremitas are truly interconnected, for example, Tinta Carvalha, being a grape variety from the old Alentejo vineyards, is 1/2 sister of Castelão and Moreto and daughter of the crossing of the Sarigo and Alfrocheiro Preto varieties. All present in the Chão dos Eremitas vineyard.