Founded in 1955, Adega de Borba was the first of a series of wineries set up in Alentejo, with the encouragement of the then National Wine Board, at a time when the sector did not have the leading role it has today in the regional economy. In fact, had it not been for that decisive push given by the aforementioned state body, which thus enabled a commercial and transformation organisation for Alentejo wines, vine growing would have completely disappeared from the region, as all the incentives of the time were geared towards growing cereals, and making Alentejo the country’s granary was a more than consolidated policy for the time.
After 3 decades of resistance, in which only the great value of the regional grape varieties and the excellence of the natural conditions allowed the wine production in the Alentejo to be maintained, we finally reached the eighties, where all the potential of the region for wine production can be evaluated and confirmed by the Consumer. The region benefited from the fact that production was associated with large wineries, and in this way it was more rapidly equipped in technological terms than other regions in the country, making the leap to quality bottled wines, at a time when the consumer became more demanding and preferred quality over quantity. It is true that the constitution of the demarcated region of Alentejo and the constitution of technical associative structures that quickly spread new technologies to the winemaker were essential in the whole process.
The euphoria that the wines of the Alentejo have been experiencing in recent years is the result of long work both in the vineyard, with the selection of the best grape varieties and the best soils for their production, and in the winery, with the improvement of techniques and equipment, often without great visibility, at a time when the pulse of the region was more in other directions than wine production.
Today, Adega de Borba gathers 300 associate winegrowers who cultivate about 2,000 hectares of vineyards, distributed among about 70% of red grape varieties and 30% of white grape varieties.
Always in search of strengthening the quality of its products, the Adega de Borba has an ambitious project of approaching the winemaker to the winery, instilling in it the passion to make great wines. After the selection and maintenance of the best grape varieties, and the technological equipment, Adega Borba is convinced that only with the full involvement of the winemaker in the production of wine, it is possible to further improve its products, and thus realize all the potential that the region has for the production of exceptional wines.
Address
Adega Cooperativa de Borba, C.R.L.
Largo Gago Coutinho e Sacadura Cabral, 25, Apartado 20
7151-913 Borba
Portugal