about

The Secret Garden Winery is a venture to produce authentic premium Algarve wine from the traditional grape varieties. The grapes are produced in the available old traditional vinyards and in newly planted facilities, both optimised on grape quality with reduced yield. Fermentation is made with the own natural yeasts on the grape skins. Maturation in Barrique and in the bottle.

This Idea was developed in 2007. Regarding the recently growing number of premium wines of high quality coming from all wine regions of Portugal exept from the Algarve. All the wine regions of Portugal developed a new confidence in quality of the own varieties and wines. But this process did not yet reach the south of the country. Today there is no premium Algarve wine.

If you find Algarvian wine of better quality it is not made from the traditional grapes. Still cultivation rights are sold from the Algarve to other wine regions of Portugal, mainly to the prospering Alentejo. There might be a connection of this backwardness of the Algarve in the matters of wine to the settlement of the Moors in the region. A further point may be the prejudice of the wine scene that it is not possible to produce premium wine in the constantly warm climate of the southern Iberian Peninsula.

The Moors went away hunderds of years ago and in the close-by Cadiz region high-class wines, even highest in Parker rating are produced lately. So we decided to start these changes in the Algarve. On our own property new vines planted of the traditional varieties, Negra Mole and Periquita, are planted. We are gathering old traditional vineyards, the “secret gardens”, for recovery, even if the land was not worked on for years.

It is not yet sure when the first wine will be filled on bottles, but if you are intersted please do not hesitate to contact us, or register to this page. Be one of the first to experience the new identity of Algarve wine.