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Mouchão

At the end of the 1800's the first Alicante Bouschet was planted, it is thought to have been the first Alicante Bouschet vines in Portugal

Long lasting tradition

The work rhythms remain largely unaltered, with grapes being hand-picked, traditional foot treading in marble lining lagares and red musts pressed by four old wooden presses completely manual

Alentejo Perspective

Alicante Bouschet thrives in hot, dry growing condition; with Alentejo growing conditions musts are high in tannin, deeply pigmented, relatively high in alcohol, show balanced acidity and be devoid of vegetal characters

Winemaking

The wine is aged in five thousand liters vats made of oak and chestnut casks that are between 50 and 100 years old
The tropical hardwood (Brazilian macacaúba) heads are almost a century old

Winery built in 1901

Tonels

Hand-picked

Long lasting tradition

Mouchão has roughly 40 hectares of vineyards most of which are on the well-drained, alluvial soils of the valley floor

Since the mid-1990’s all vineyards at Mouchão are cordon-trained (Cordon Royat)

No residual herbicides are used and systemic compounds are avoided whenever possible. Most treatments are copper or sulphur-based. Selected vineyards at Mouchão are irrigated, but vines are only offered water in exceptionally dry years. Vine roots are encouraged to scavenge at depth

Red varieties grown at Mouchão

About half of the red grape produced on the estate is Alicante Bouschet. Benefiting from the same climate, but in soils with greater drainage in vineyards located at a higher altitude, there are noble red grape varieties such as Trincadeira, Aragonez, Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca and Syrah.

White varieties include

Antão Vaz, Arinto, Fernão Pires and more recently, some wines were top-grafted with Verdelho.
They are mostly found on the slopes of the Mouchão Dam and adjacent to the two streams of the estate

The family owned estate has been producing wine for over a hundred years and maintains the traditions established in 1901 when the winery was built

First vineyard plantings when two professors from Montpellier visit, bringing cuttings of the first Alicante Bouschet

Two of the four manually-operated, century old basket presses still used today (photograph taken in 1954)

1949
The first Mouchão wine to be sold in bottle. Before this, all wines were sold in bulk – in skins, casks or wicker flagons

Mouchão Tonel Nº3-4
Only produced in years when grapes attain exceptional ripening quality.

Mouchão
The Estate’s flagship wine, first bottled in 1949

Ponte das Canas
A blend of the Estate’s very best Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca and Syrah

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The omnipresent lagares and tonels

Mouchão Location

Vineyard Spot:Sousel, Sousel, Portugal
Winemaker: Hamilton Reis
Website: Mouchão
Our recommendation for connoisseurs: Mouchão Tonel Nº3-4
Interesting fact: 1st producer to introduce and plant Alicante Bouschet on the late 1800’s.