Herdade do Esporão

On Tuesday we visited Herdade do Esporão, a winery located about 45 minutes from Évora.  Most wineries in the region require advanced notice for their tours and tastings - you cannot just show up at anytime.  We reserved the English-speaking tour of the facility with a tasting at the end.  There were nine of us in the tour group including two couples traveling together from Colorado and another group of three from Holland.  The tour-guide was very knowledgable and we learned a lot about the winery and how they produce their wines.  After the tour, we sat out on the patio and had lunch.  They do distribute in the United States, so I'll have to be on the lookout to see if I come across any of their wines!!

Lunch at the winery!

There is also a tower on the property, Esporão Tower, which was built between 1457 and 1490 and now houses an archaeological museum.  Across from the tower is a small church, Nossa Senhora dos Remédios Chapel, built in the 16th century.  Both were closed while we were there, but we were able to walk around the area which had some beautiful orange trees.