About
CORTES DE CIMA is a family estate, with 130 hectares of vineyard, located near Vidigueira in the Alentejo region of Portugal, midway between Lisbon, the Algarve and Sevilla.
The Region
Vidigueira, Alentejo’s southernmost demarcated wine region, has been a wine-growing area since the time of the Romans.
The Romans used ‘Talhas’(huge clay urns or amphorae) for fermenting and storing wines, a local winemaking practice still in use today, and symbolized by the pot on our label.
Ancient olive groves, with olive trees up to 2,000 years old, share the land with citrus groves, vineyards and Roman ruins.
Vidigueira is rich in history. Here Julius Caesar imposed his ‘Pax Julia’ in the year 65 AD.Here Vasco da Gama was established as Conde (Count) in 1519 upon his return from his voyage discovering the route to India.
The Property
The brilliant white monte (farmhouse), straddling the hillside with sweeping views across the vineyard and to the hills beyond, has been our home since 1988. The property is a total of 365 hectares which is only medium sized for the Alentejo. 130 ha are planted with vineyards, 50 ha are olive trees, 50 ha are corktrees, 100 ha are cultivated with cereals. Towards the foothills, we have built a Barragem (dam) for irrigation needs. Besides the grapes for our wines, we also grow cereals, sunflowers and olives which we transfer into our own olive oil.
About Us
Hans, is the grapegrower and winemaker – what he calls ‘winegrower’. Born in Denmark, he worked for many years in Malaysia as Chief technical engineer for a tropical plantation company. Carrie, comes from California, where she studied Economics at UC Berkely, and is responsible for admin and marketing. We have 2 kids, born and raised in Alentejo, Thomas and Anna.
Our Philosophy
‘Life is too short to drink bad wine!’ and our motto is:- ‘Life is too short to make bad wine!’
Our wines are gutsy, full bodied reds, with lots of sunshine in the bottle.
We enjoy a sunny, Alentejan climate, with hot daytime temperatures in the growing period, cooled down in the evening by Atlantic breezes. Our vineyards are unique in Portugal because we use a modern canopy management, Dr. Richard Smart´s ‘Sunlight into Wine’ theories, where the grapes are exposed to the morning sun, and shielded from the afternoon rays.
This creates intense wines, which match well with the strong flavours of chilli and garlic in today´s fusion style cooking or oriental food. We think that wines should be a pleasure to drink, on their own, but even better, enjoyed with a good meal. (and always with moderation of course!)
‘From hard work comes beautiful fruit, and fruitful rewards.’
Our Politics - “No” to VPQRD!
The Appellation Controlée system (DOC regulations) is an antiquated straitjacket for European wine producers, helping them to produce wines which no one wants to drink! Although our vineyards are located within a VPQRD area, we have rejected the system in favour of the looser ‘Vinho Regional Alentejano’ category. The proof of the failure of the system, is the quality of the many ‘plonk’ wines which are marketed with AOC/ DOC seals of approval, debasing the whole system, and giving a poor name for Portuguese wines abroad.
Why can´t we experiment with other grapes, even from other countries? We have learned that some approved varieties, such as Aragonez/Tempranillo, Trincadeira and Touriga Nacional flourish in our soils and climate, while others such as Periquita and Moreto (DOC recommended varieties) are abject failures. Our illegal Incógnito proves that other varieties not included on the official list, flourish in our local ‘terroir’.
Why can we not be allowed to use an open canopy trellis systems, which enables the grapegrower to grow healthier grapes with greatly reduced spraying of fungicides? After 80 years, Appellation Controllée needs a major shakeup!
