Vidigal Wines

The medium-sized company Vidigal Wines is family-run and produces mainly still and dessert wines. At the beginning of the 20th century, a church canton founded the winery in the center of Portugal, near the city of Leiria. 

History of the winery

Over the decades, the company had several owners until the current manager António Mendes Lopes took over in the 90s.
Thanks to him, Vidigal Wines has made great strides in both technology and management. Currently, more than three million bottles are produced annually. Today, the wine company is owned by António Mendes Lopes (60%), the managing director, and by a Norwegian investment company. Thus, the winery can definitely keep up with the global wine market and stands for a winery that gives fresh impulses in the long wine tradition of Portugal. The total of almost 1100 hectares of vineyards are located in the most important wine regions of Portugal:

• Vinho Verde
• Dão
• Douro
• Alentejo and
• Beiras

The viticulture in Portugal 

Already the Phoenicians, Greeks and also the Romans brought the vines and also the know-how about cultivation and production with them. And if wine was produced far away, it should of course be enjoyed and shared at home. So already the Romans exported Portuguese wine and the British extended this with agreements on "cloth and wine". In 1690 one of the most famous wines of Portugal was discovered - the port wine. It is undoubtedly the most famous export and was considered by the English as a substitute for French wines, which simply could not be afforded due to high tariffs. The great awakening came at the end of the 19th century. The mildew and the phylloxera destroyed wide wine-growing areas. Only a few old vines in sandy soil survived this. For many decades it had become quiet around the Portuguese wine. It was not until 1930 that many cooperatives began to rebuild. And so Portugal could slowly make a name for itself again in the wine scene.

The wine regions of Portugal

In Portugal, the wine cultivation is very characterized by contrasts. The interior is rather hot and dry and the coastal areas cool and humid. For example, on the steep terraces of the Douro wine-growing region, the vines thrive on sloping soils and can thus survive the long, dry summers thanks to the stored moisture. Mostly the heavy red wines are pressed here. In the rainy Vinho Verde, on the other hand, which is characterised by sea breezes, white grape varieties thrive magnificently.

Thus, each region has its own special charm. The most important grape varieties used by Vidigal are:

• Touriga Nacional
• Aragonez (Tinta Roriz)
• Castelão
• Syrah
• Cabernet