Herdade dos Grous, Tinto

This wonderful red comes from the thrilling region of Alentejo, wouth-east of Lisbon toward the Algarve and the Spanish boarder.

Made from indigenous Portuguese grape varieties of Touriga Nacional and Aragonez blended with Alicante Bouschet and Syrah, it is the epitome of the modern Portugal. Broad in structure and dark fruit-flavoured with a balanced acidity and wonderful pulpy mouth-feel, it presents a balance of old and new world wine traditions, which is in truth, uniquely Portuguese.

This estate in Albernoa is part of a large German-owned hotel group and is home to a beautiful estate that produces olive oil as well as wine and houses stables and horses.

It's a beautiful location that has been man-made into a very, very beautiful estate... it's rather strange in some ways as you could imagine the place being beautiful on its own, but the work they have done, certainly for wine-making and grape growing, has been remarkably good while feeling at once authentic and not falsely manufactured.

This is in large part due to the input of their amazing consultant Luis Duarte, who has been the wine-maker since the estate began in 1997. His skill and philosophy to seek out the best from soils and a broad range of grape varieties (including international and Portuguese varieties) has been the hallmark for an entire generation of wine estates to follow over the last 20 years.