To the north in Alentejo you can find Monte de Penha. Francisco and Veronica Fina made their first vintage in 1999. The winery is not far from the town of Portalegre, 100 km from the famous city of Evora. The region is mountainous and the vineyards are at high altitude on granite soil. The climate is a bit cooler than the rest of Alentejo.
Monte de Penha use traditional regional grape varieties. “Why would we use grape verities that everyone else has?” as Francisco puts it. One of my favourites is Monte de Penha Reserva made from trincadeira, aragoñes and alicante bouschet. Their 2002 has wonderful fruit, very good structure and pronounced but smooth tannins. Long and elegant.
