Dust is whipped up as Patrick and I set down the heavy aluminium suitcase with our drone on the path’s edge next to section 28 and 29 of the Esporao Winery at 7:00 in the morning.

At least 40 to 50 pickers wearing diversely coloured bandanas swarm into the rows upon rows of dense grapevines. It’s the end of August in 2016 and the first white Roupeiro and Viosinho grapes are picked from their clearly defined sections. David Baverstock, the enterprise’s chief winemaker, tells me that because of this year’s cooler spring, the harvest began 10 days later usual. I can barely imagine cool weather here in Alentejo, Portugal’s aspiring wine region, where sweat starts to drip into my camera’s viewfinder in the early morning and it’s 36 degrees by midday.

The pickers seem to have been swallowed up by the green foliage and I only see them again through the drone’s “viewfinder”. From above, they look like small worker bees. The whole 150 hectares of the vineyard becomes visible as the drone flies around the emblematic 14 th century tower that is immortalised in the Esporao logo, revealing that the vineyards extend almost to the city gates of Monsaraz.

Their website states that “Companies should serve society, and not the other way around” and “First we do better, then we do more”. Phrases like these are heralded by Esporao. Despite its size, there are no migrant workers employed, chemical fertilisers and pesticides are not used, and Esporao is proud of its biodiversity, with its forty ingenious grape varieties that are only found in Alentejo.

As the daytime temperatures reach merciless levels, Antonio Roquette, the Enoturismo
representative, invites us for a break in the nearby winery restaurant.

A bright white room with light blue and bright wood tones, open windows, and a view of grape vines and the nearby lake greets us. Pedro Pena Bastos’ menu with 6 courses surprises us, as we expected to see the meat-heavy simple country cuisine of the region. On the contrary, the vegetarian menu for Patrick is just as finely tuned and innovatively cooked as the “Montanheira” menu for me. Pedro plays with the different tastes and textures so as to perfectly complement the wine we choose.

The “No. 2 Duas Castas, 2015” with 50% Roupeiro and 50% Viosinho, the two grape varieties that were harvested in the morning, tickles our taste buds with a delicate citrus edge and its floral aroma is pleasant in the nose, perfectly contrasting the mackerel in tomato sauce. The “Verdelho 2014” eaten with red mullet follows, then the “4 Castas 2014” with lamb chops, and with the aged entrecote, which Pedro himself matured in a cooler at a controlled temperature and humidity for several weeks, the sommelier opens a bottle of “Esporao Private Selection 2012”, one of the finest red wines, and a cuvee from Alicante Bouchet, Aragonez and Syrah.

Besotted from the dense red colour and intense flavour of this wine and the following dessert wines, we head to the Torre de Esporao and the chapel Reguengos de Monsaraz in the gathering dusk, praying to the heavens that this Alentejo trip will give us many more wonderful tasting experiences.