Sociedade Vinícola de Palmela embraced by Serra Mãe

Sociedade Vinícola de Palmela was born in 1964. At that time, and until the late 1980s, the region was populated by two types of companies: some were family-owned, such as José Maria da Fonseca or Bacalhôa (then J.P. Vinhos), there were two cooperative wineries, and many wholesalers, some of them with their own brands.

In the area, there were also many producers, some of them large in size, but they barely bottled anything, selling bulk wine to the wholesalers. We only heard about them when the results of the famous wine competitions were announced (wines from the latest harvest), events promoted by the Institute of Vine and Wine.

Despite the many medals that the wines received back then, the truth is that these wines ended up in the blends made by the wholesalers, and we never heard about the producers again. The situation changed, fortunately for the better: today we have a significant number of producers with their own brands, and the wines and those who make them have gained deserved prominence.

Sociedade Vinícola de Palmela (SVP) is thus a protagonist of this wave, especially since it has been led by new investors, notably Vasco Guerreiro, a businessman long associated with wine distribution, now CEO of the company, maintaining the core constituted by the family of Filipe Cardoso (Quinta do Piloto), winemaker and owner of many hectares of vineyards in the region, and Luís Simões, also linked to the historic family of winegrowers from Palmela, now Deputy General Director of SVP.

The winemaking is in the hands of José Caninhas, resident technician, with the support of Filipe Cardoso. With the abundance of vineyards and grapes at its disposal, the company has all the conditions to increase its production quantities, provided the market responds in terms of demand.

That's exactly what I mentioned to Filipe Cardoso at the end of the presentation: congratulations on the wines and their quality, my regret for the limited quantities, considering the 200 hectares of vineyards that the company operates. In this vineyard area, there are 30 hectares of white grapes, including 5 hectares of Arinto, the variety used for the Serra Mãe Reserva Branco. The name of the wine is a tribute to Sebastião da Gama, writer and poet who "sang" the mountain, the land where he lived.

In addition to the range now presented, the company has released a Fernão Pires white called Botelharia, already noted here in a previous presentation, and which, being from the 1999 harvest, aged many years in the bottle. This first edition was almost accidental: "the wine was almost forgotten." Regarding a possible next edition, we were told that probably in 2005 there might be one, "and anyway, now we are always keeping wines for the possibility of launching them much later," revealed Filipe.

The 2021 Serra Mãe white was previously named Arrábida, then one of the two sub-regions of Setúbal, the other being Palmela. In the reds, they had an Arrábida from 1995 to 97, but then everything switched to Palmela denomination, which remains until today. The first edition of this white was made 4 years ago, always based on the Arinto grape, highly appreciated in this company. The oldest vineyards of this variety are now 70 to 80 years old, they produce little – 3 tons/ha – but the wines have a lot of character.

As for the Grande Reserva white, it incorporates Fernão Pires, Arinto, and Síria and is being produced for the first time; it has aged in barrels and has been bottled since August. The red is based, as tradition dictates in the region, on Castelão, which, they tell us, "confers a lot of elegance to the wines and is a passion of the people at home." This red is a very good representative of the Castelão from the sandy soils, where currently the best wines of this iconic variety come from. In the case of the Grande Reserva red, the Cabernet Sauvignon that joins the Castelão works especially well and brings joy to the wine, so it seems to me to be a good option.

Having Moscatel in the portfolio is natural for the company, given its history and the region's. But the quantities now presented are so limited that it will be difficult for consumers to access these wines, although Sociedade Vinícola de Palmela affirms that all wines are available in its online store. These are wines of enormous character, very aromatic, with sweetness well evident, as is usual in the aged Moscatels of the region.

During the presentation of the novelties, we revisited the Botelharia white 2009, made with Fernão Pires and Arinto, which is on the market at a price around €45. It continues to be in very good health, this type of wine that has already