Viúva Gomes White DOC Colares

The mere existence of vineyards in Colares is, in itself, something admirable, because we are talking about a place subject to enormous real estate speculation and where viticulture is a task for titans.

Resisting the fury of the sea winds and the corrosive power of salt particles and extracting wine from the sand is a heroic stubbornness that has endured since the arrival of the Arabs in Sintra. Heroic because, in addition to having to fight against the elements, winegrowers have to bear high planting and maintenance costs to obtain yields of less than two tons per hectare.

The first major challenge begins with planting. This requires, in the first phase, the removal of sand until the clay soil is found several meters deep, where the vines are "nailed" (wedged into the clay to take root).

The vines grow horizontally, close to the ground, in a wooden lattice, and are protected from the maritime influence by palisades of dry cane and dry stone walls. That's a lot of work for so little wine.