Located in southern Portugal, the Alentejo is very well suited to the production of very typical fine wines. The district is covered by vast vineyards extending across the plains under a blazing sun that ripens the grapes which are used to make The Wines of the Alentejo. The Alentejo has great historical wealth and a well-preserved architectural heritage. In addition to this its rural areas have unrivalled environmental conditions; a diversified countryside and natural as well as shooting reserves. Its people are friendly, hospitable and very traditional preserving the qualities handed down by their forefathers.
Food from Alentejo is extremely varied, with its pronounced, rich flavours. Examples of this are the migas and açorda - a dish and soup made with local bread, olive-oil, coriander and other ingredients, the lamb stew, tomato soup, gaspacho, dog-fish soup, sarapatel - a sort of haggis made from pork-offal-river-fish stew, garlic sausages of many varieties, cheeses and a vast range of desserts prepared from recipes handed down from the convents.

The Alentejo Wines include fruity whites, whether crisp or of an intense and most original bouquet, and the reds with their fruity, fresh bouquet or their rich, smooth, balanced aromas. There are six main varieties that set the wines of the Alentejo apart: three whites Roupeiro of a fine, balanced aroma with its lemon colour; Rabo de Ovelha, a large producer and with an open colour; and Antão Vaz, with its singular, personalized aroma
- and three reds - Periquita, with its pleasant, fruity, mild aroma; Trincadeira, which has a freshness and a suitable alcohol content; and Aragonez, of a dark red colour that lends body to the wines.

There are about 13 500 hectares of vineyards in the Alentejo, which corresponds to just 5% of the area devoted to the cultivation in the country as a whole. They are found in the poorest soils of the region, being basically a pure culture, with the exception of some old vines and found on gently sloped land (except the Portalegre area where hillside vines predominate), mainly facing the South.
The start of the vine’s growing cycle is marked by the earliest flowering varieties, Fernão Pires and Periquita, which generally occurs in March. For some years now, in most Alentejan vineyards there is a co-ordinated practice protecting the vines which significantly reduces the use of pesticides; the least toxic of these are selected and their application rationalised. Even the oldest plantations are in lines.
The traditional conduction system is the low vine, of little or average growth which normally leads to a " bilateral cord " or a " double guyot ". The region’s average production varies between 35 and 40hl/ha, the maximum limit defined in the statutes of the zonas vitivinícolas, being 55hl/ha for castas de uvas tintas.

From the beginning to the attribution of Controlled Denomination of Origin (DOC). The Alentejo has a long tradition in the cultivation of vineyards which goes back to the Romans. Ruins and other cultural remains bear witness to this. However, the oldest known historical documents register that vineyards have been cultivated in the Alentejo since at least the beginning of National Independence.

There are a number of references to the export of Alentejo wines in XVII century. India, Africa, Brazil, Flanders among other countries are the main destinations referred to; perhaps, before the export of the so-called 'Port Wine', a large amount of the wine which left the country came from the South, thanks to its intrinsic qualities, such as the intense colour and high alcoholic content. After various changes in fortune, when areas were first planted and then cut back, by the XIX century vineyards were spread through nearly all the Alentejo, with the exception of the Mértola and Barrancos councils. The total production was low considering the extense of land involved from which it was understood that the planted areas in each area should be reduced. It was the XIX which brought serious tribulations to the viticulture of all Western European countries.

These difficulties arose with the endemic diseases of grape-mildew, mildew and FILOXERA (a plant louse).The devastation was great and as a result the viticulturists became increasingly despondent. The discrediting of the Alentejo vineyard cultivation will certainly have led to the association with the olive yards, and this is still found in some old vineyards and makes the Alentejan vineyards very varied, all depending of course, not only on the kind of soil but also the age and vigour of the oliveyard. In general, the scope of the plantation was scanty and would not allow today’s modern machine to enter; a distinct decaying of the vine-stock caused by the greater growing power of the olive trees, the absence or at least the much reduced mineral fertilisation and the growing number of failed crops led to a very reduced number of single crops.

 Right in the XX century, the definition of the Alentejo as a cereal growing region which resulted from the 'Wheat Campaign' at the start of the 30’s also contributed significantly to the reduction of the area cultivated, with the removal and non-substitution of many vineyards. Today, the only remaining vineyards are in areas of greater tradition generally on small properties as they are still able to maintain the quality which has always been appreciated.Yet the founding of the Wine cellar Co-operatives as of 1958 when one was set up in Borba, followed by Redondo in 1960, Portalegre in 1962, Vidigueira in 1963, Granja in 1965 and finally in Reguengos de Monsaraz in 1971, was the most important step in the rejuination of Alentejan Viticulture. It is to the merit of the Wine cellar Co-operatives that Alentejan wines became better cared for and known and regularly come in the first places of the national wine competitions.