In 2007, Ribafreixo Wines was formed in Vidigueira, a region in the Alentejo with an age-old tradition of winemaking. Amazingly, its founders managed to surpass their dreams in just three years. They bought 28 plots of abandoned land, joined them together and created a single property covering an area of 282 acres; then they connected it to the watering system of the Alqueva dam reservoir.
They rejuvenated the already existing vineyards and planted new extensions only using Portuguese grapes, some of them indigenous to the Vidigueira region (the exception is our Connections Chenin Blanc). The resulting property, Herdade do Moinho Branco, lies alongside the main lower Alentejo road, 500 meters outside the village of Vidigueira. It is set within a landscape of vineyards and olive trees and is surrounded by the Serra de Mendro mountain range. In 2012 they opened a ‘state of the art’ winery covering over 40,000 square feet – an ambitious project that will enable them to produce up to 1,500,000 bottles of wine per year in a sustainable and qualitative way.
