Reguengos de Monsaraz is one of the Alentejo's wine sub-regions, and it's 25 minutes from Mourão. It was European Wine City in 2015 — a distinction that says something about how many producers fit into a town this size.
There are around eleven producers in the sub-region and most take visitors. These are the ones that make sense from Alqueva.
Herdade do Esporão
The best known and the best set up for visitors. Guided cellar tours with tastings, a shop, and a restaurant open since 1997 serving terroir cooking built on Alentejo produce.
The obvious choice if you want a full visit and lunch in one place. Also the most in demand, so booking is essential in summer and at weekends.
Ervideira
Open every day of the year, with visits and tastings by appointment. They also run less usual programmes, including blind tastings.
But what makes it interesting if you're on Alqueva is something else.
CARMIM
The Reguengos de Monsaraz cooperative, and the largest wine cooperative in Portugal, with hundreds of members. It's the opposite of the boutique estates: industrial scale, low prices, and the wines people actually drink every day in the Alentejo.
Worth visiting for exactly that reason — you understand the weight of wine in the local economy in a way a small estate doesn't show you.
São Lourenço do Barrocal
In Monsaraz, mainly a country hotel, but it produces wine and takes visitors. It's on the way to Monsaraz, which makes it easy to fit in.
Before you go
Always book. Almost no winery takes visitors without an appointment, and those that do may be mid-harvest or with groups. An email or phone call the day before sorts it.
Outside summer, confirm. Many cut their hours between October and March, and some close for cellar work.
Allow a morning or an afternoon. A visit with tasting takes an hour to ninety minutes. Two wineries in a day is possible; three is rushed.
If you're tasting, someone drives. The roads between Mourão, Reguengos and Monsaraz are rural and there are checks. Many wineries provide spittoons, which solves it.
Harvest: late August and September. Some producers run harvest programmes for visitors. It's the most interesting time to visit and the one that books out first.
What to try
The sub-region's reds are typically full-bodied, from Aragonez, Trincadeira and Alicante Bouschet, often with Touriga Nacional and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Look out for vinho de talha — wine fermented in clay amphorae, a Roman tradition that survived in the Alentejo and almost nowhere else. Some restaurants in Mourão and Monsaraz serve it by the glass.
Buying without visiting a winery
If you'd rather not book anything, the grocers and wine shops in Reguengos and Monsaraz have a good selection at better prices than the estate shops. And local restaurants serve regional wine by the glass for very little.
