'You have to be in the vineyard every day'

Times change and Esporão changes with them. Sometimes against the grain, and thus ahead of what others are doing and thinking in the Portuguese wine industry. The company started organic viticulture back in 2007.
Text: Niels van Laatum | Image: Esporão

Since 2019, the entire five hundred hectares of its own vineyards have been certified 'organic'. With this, Esporão owns 18 per cent of all organic vineyards in Portugal. See, that's when you make a difference to the environment. Especially if, as one of the country's five biggest producers, you also downsize the outfit of your bottles, as with the new Colheita line. We spoke to 'chief winemaker' José Luís Moreira da Silva about these wines and their current challenges.

Less is more

Esporão's Colheita wines got a facelift. Complementing the Monte Velho series, there are now a white and a red wine in a new look. With this, this wine producer is increasingly giving substance to what they really stand for, and what you as a wine lover are hot for: wine that has nature and your tastes at its best. 

The main changes made by Esporão are as follows. By saying goodbye to capsules on the bottle, they save 5,000 kilograms of aluminium and 1,965 kilograms of CO2 emissions every year. The printing of labels has also been simplified. By no longer using gold coating, it saves 26 kilometres of non-recyclable foil made of aluminium and plastic. 

Pretty exciting

José Luís Moreira da Silva - how do they always come up with those wonderful names in Portugal? - has been head winemaker at Esporão since 2022. His career began there earlier. After studying microbiology and a master's degree in oenology, José first worked at reputable wineries in the Douro. Born and raised in Porto, it was an obvious choice. Until Esporão came his way in 2015. From the Douro, he shifted his work towards Alentejo via the Vinho Verde wine region. After being promoted to head winemaker and joining the management, José decided to move to Evora with his family. A relatively small, historic city between the Spanish border and Lisbon. 'That was easier than we thought. With three children, the eldest was 13 at the time, we found moving quite exciting. They became very independent here within the fine energy of Evora. Now they don't want to go back. Perhaps for us, since many of our friends and family live in Porto, it is even more difficult.' 

One foot in the vineyard