Vinhos Cortém

Founded in 2004 by Christopher Price, an English film sound engineer and his wife Helga Wagner a german sound editor, Vinhos Cortém Is a small (4.5 hectares) organic winery set in the hills and valleys a few kilometers east of Caldas da Rainha. Although the agriculture in this area is now predominantly fruit growing, 70 years ago only vines were cultivated and winemaking was the main activity as the many old wineries and presses bear witness.

Situated in the Estramadura  (Lisboa Wines) in the DOC Obidos region, the vineyards are set in Hilly country near to Caldas da Rainha, The climate is temperate to cool, with a strong maritime influence and summer temperatures seldom above 30 degrees. Late harvests lead to well-structured wines with natural acidity but sometimes high alcohol content. Our vines were planted between 2000 and 2005 on cleared fields previously unused for 30 years a...

Our vineyards were layed out and planted in Cortém in fields not used for 30 years. We selected and planted the fifteen different grape varieties now growing in the vineyards using them for the blends we make. The grapes are fully certified organic from 2010. All the work is done by us and a small team of local people. We don't employ a winemaker and are learning the art of winemaking ourselves through hands on experience. It seems that the te...