Creating Pollinator Habitats at Alameda

Without pollinators, the human diet would collapse into global-scale famine. Wild flora and fauna would likewise wither in a devastating chain reaction.

Yet across Europe, pollinators face a profound crisis: suffocated by habitat loss, urban sprawl, pesticides, and climate change, a quarter of European butterflies and countless species of bees are currently sliding towards extinction. And yet, there is no denying that these insects perform quiet, daily miracles.

Borboleta estilizada sobre fundo colorido em tons de roxo, rosa e laranja.

Desenho detalhado de uma abelha com asas transparentes sobre um fundo colorido em tons de rosa, azul e laranja.

Indeed, each year, the labour of these tiny creatures generates roughly €2 billion for Portuguese agriculture—all through tasks performed free of charge, with intrinsic charm and matchless grace. Providing them with the optimal conditions to live and thrive is, therefore, paramount.

That is why Alameda has enlisted the scientific expertise of Tagis (the Butterfly Conservation Centre of Portugal) to guide us in creating habitats entirely dedicated to butterflies, bees, and other pollinators.

Comprising academics and researchers (including members of the renowned cE3c at the Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon), Tagis brings to Alameda all the expertise required to design these living sanctuaries.

Through this partnership, we will create richer, more vibrant, and far more colourful habitats: after all, by protecting pollinators, we safeguard our very survival and restore beauty to our countryside.

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Ilustração detalhada de um besouro marrom sobre fundo aquarela colorido.

From Terroir to Engineering: The EcoVinePanel Project

Year after year, the Dão region generates thousands of tonnes of vineyard by-products. Yet despite their rich potential, these resources often lie forgotten and underutilised.

Such is the case with the vine shoots, grape skins, stems, and pips left behind after the harvest. Yet these are organic materials with remarkable applications across industry and engineering.

Ilustração detalhada de ramo de videira com folhas e galhos sobre fundo colorido aquarela.

Desenho de microscópio antigo com fundo colorido e estrutura molecular ao lado.

Why, then, not return these vineyard by-products to the value chain? And why not apply the finest of our knowledge to the stewardship of our land?

To this end, Quinta da Alameda has joined forces with leaders in industry (Movecho), regional higher education (the Polytechnic Institute of Viseu), and materials science (ARCP CoLAB).

Together, we are developing EcoVinePanel—a genuinely innovative project aimed at collecting, harnessing, and transforming these diverse vineyard by-products into versatile composite solutions for applications as varied as furniture and sustainable packaging.

To actively foster a circular economy, we thus intertwine the age-old culture of the vine with contemporary engineering and design.

Yet, through this partnership at the multidisciplinary vanguard, we also cross something far more vital: the long bridge connecting tradition and innovation, heading into the future.

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Símbolo de reciclagem com setas formando um círculo em fundo colorido abstrato.

Número três cinza dentro de um círculo preto.

Safeguarding an Extraordinary Plant at Alameda

An extraordinary plant grows wild across our fields, yet few pay it any heed. This remarkable plant is the cardoon (Cynara cardunculus). Generous in every aspect, the cardoon lends itself to a multitude of practical applications—industrial, culinary, medicinal, agricultural, and ecological alike. Furthermore, it remains entirely unfazed by climate change, and natural compounds can be extracted from it to treat the vines.

Given its vast qualities, the School of Agriculture of Viseu (ESAV) cultivated a large field of cardoons to study them and develop solutions based on the plant—the culmination of extensive research that began over fifteen years ago. However, it was ultimately decided that the entire area devoted to the cardoon plantation should be redirected to other purposes.

Ilustração de um cardo com folhas dentadas e flores detalhadas sobre fundo colorido em aquarela.

Ilustração de pergaminho com caneta assinando, com fundo colorido abstrato.

Had a satisfactory resolution not been found, this decision threatened to compromise decades of dedicated work. Alameda therefore established a protocol with ESAV/IPV to host, protect, and study thousands of these prized cardoons—thus safeguarding a rare, precious, and exemplary genetic repository.

Beyond enhancing biodiversity across the Estate, the cardoons will form the foundation for developing biological compounds to treat vineyards. This is expected to yield wines that are even more sustainably produced and even more deeply imbued with the values of the Dão. The cardoons will continue to flourish—and so will science, for the benefit of all.

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Ilustração estilizada de uma molécula em preto sobre um fundo colorido em tons pastel.

The Vigneron Initiative: Total Authorship of Portuguese Wine

In France, the vigneron is the embodiment of authenticity: one who cultivates, vinifies, and bottles wine exclusively from their own grapes. This same reality exists in Portugal. However, its Portuguese designation does little to foster public recognition: in overly utilitarian fashion, it is known here simply as 'vitivinicultor-engarrafador'.

Such producers express wine with complete fidelity to terroir, exercising their craft in every gesture, from pruning to bottle. Yet this legally defined identity remains virtually invisible in the Portuguese market.

Portugal's vignerons are, in truth, relatively scarce, but they represent what wine can be in its most crystalline form—a direct translation of a vintage, a land, and a guiding hand. And this demands a heavy toll in risk, investment, and commitment.

Desenho de uma garrafa de vinho e uma taça sobre fundo aquarelado colorido.

Três barris de madeira desenhados com fundo colorido em tons de rosa, laranja e amarelo.

Determined to help elevate Portuguese wine, Quinta da Alameda has partnered with the initiative "Vigneron, As Nossas Uvas, Os Nossos Vinhos" (Our Grapes, Our Wines), joining forces with distinguished names such as Quinta das Bágeiras, Quinta da Atela, Rui Reguinga, Quinta de Chocapalha, Casa da Passarella, Casas Altas, Vale dos Ares, Tapada de Coelheiros, and Quinta do Perdigão.

To value vignerons is to recognise devotion and transparency. At Alameda, as with the remaining nine estates that form this movement, our wine is born exclusively from our own grapes and vinified solely in our winery.

We embrace the risks of every winter and the temperament of every summer, so that what reaches your table is a pure portrait, free from shortcuts or artifice. For, after all, wine is where we entrust our name and our identity.

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Ilustração de um saca-rolhas de madeira e dois rolhas sobre fundo de aquarela colorida.

The Quinta da Alameda Ethos

A single terroir, the whole of the Dão. Set amid a winegrowing landscape of unmistakable beauty, Quinta da Alameda stands true: authentic in its wines, respectful of regional values, and faithful to its 200-year history.

Here, where woodlands and vineyards exist in symbiosis, illustrious grape varieties such as Touriga Nacional and Encruzado find an ideal stage to express the full depth of their character.

From the root of the vine to the very last bottle, our fully vertical approach—the hallmark of a true vigneron—culminates naturally in wines of distinct verticality, marked by freshness, balance, and supreme elegance.

Yet the Estate is not merely a viticultural landscape that pays homage to the land and its sustainability; it is, rather, a landscape of biodiversity and sustainability where viticulture is also practiced.

For, in the end, Alameda's purpose is also singular: out of respect for its people and nature, to craft exceptional wines in which the Dão reveals itself in full. To this end, we invest in these wide-ranging projects across viticulture and far beyond. Saúde!

Alameda Initiatives

At the forefront of oenology and sustainability

Creating Pollinator Habitats at Alameda

From Terroir to Engineering: The EcoVinePanel Project

Safeguarding an Extraordinary Plant at Alameda

The Vigneron Initiative: Total Authorship of Portuguese Wine

The Quinta da Alameda Ethos