At A Glance
- Field
- Detail
- Region
- Alentejo
- Municipality
- Vidigueira
- Village
- Marmelar
- Estate
- Herdade do Monte da Ribeira
- Wine focus
- Red and white varieties
- Defining feature
- Serra do Mendro sheltering the vineyards
The Producer
Herdade do Monte da Ribeira includes vineyards, olive groves and Mediterranean forest. Casa Agrícola HMR holds the estate. The company was called CADE, Companhia Agrícola de Desenvolvimento, S.A., until 2010. Industrialist Victor Carmona e Costa founded the agricultural company in 1986.
The first vines were planted in 1989, after construction of the first dam. João Portugal Ramos initially handled the winemaking. Since 2011, Luís Duarte has served as consulting winemaker alongside resident winemaker Nuno Elias, while the winery underwent renewal and modernization. Casa Agrícola HMR also belongs to Vidigueira Winelands, a joint promotional association formed by six regional wine producers.
The estate's soils are poor in organic matter. A mixed cover is sown between vine rows, then cut and incorporated. Winter vegetation remains until it begins to compete with the vines.
Place
Marmelar is a small Alentejo village in Vidigueira municipality. Herdade do Monte da Ribeira extends from the plain onto Serra do Mendro. The property covers about 1,100 hectares, including more than 700 hectares of Mediterranean forest on Serra do Mendro, alongside vineyards and olive groves.
The vineyard soils are poor clay loam, with clay only lightly developed. Part of the vineyards lies over the geological fault between Vidigueira and Moura, an area associated with old copper and iron mines. Serra do Mendro shelters the vines from prevailing northerly winds. Wind driven dehydration therefore has less impact than at nearby properties, and the vines do not enter stress as easily.
Wines
The estate's wines come from vineyards planted to both red and white varieties. In 2019, plantings were 70% red varieties and 30% white varieties. The range has a larger red side and a smaller white side. The estate winery was designed to work by gravity. In a gravity flow cellar, the harvest moves through different stages with less pump handling.
Final Word
Casa Agrícola HMR is a Vidigueira estate with vineyards sheltered by Serra do Mendro, poor clay loam soils and a winery designed for gravity flow.