Vineyard

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). Pruning takes place in January and February, close to budburst, which usually occurs in early- to mid-March.

Red varieties grown at Mouchão are Alicante Bouschet,

Trincadeira, Aragonêz, Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional, Syrah and Castelão.

White varieties include

Antão Vaz, Arinto and Fernão Pires. More recently, some vines were top-grafted with Verdelho, a hugely popular grape in Mouchão at the turn of the C19th.

Vineyards are shoot-thinned in April/May and bunch-thinned in July, as required. 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.

Vineyards and cork trees, a natural coexistence at Mouchão.

An Alentejo Perspective

Alicante Bouschet thrives in hot, dry growing condition; at Mouchão a wet winter is often indicative of a quality harvest. Soils should be relatively fertile, deep and always well-drained. Showers in late spring can provoke significant bunch losses from downy mildew. Harvest dates are medium-to-late and not as early as suggested by much of the literature, if proper maturation is to be achieved.