São Lourenço do Barrocal

200 years after its inception, Barrocal is more current than ever. The initial philosophy keeps rooted, preserving authenticity, agriculture, landscape richness, comfort and sense of belonging to Alentejo.

In a 780-hectare estate, there is plenty of countryside to explore and a variety of activities, from horseback riding to spa treatments, from family picnics to bike rides, from archaeological visits to walks around the property, with birding, or pottery workshops for the little ones. There are things that don’t change, and thankfully.

In the same family for over 200 years, the estate has its heart at the monte, an ancient small farming village, which has been brought carefully back to life as a remarkable hotel of understated luxury, surrounded by ancient holm oaks, olive groves and vineyards.

Here, the feeling of being at home is intimately connected with the sense of belonging to the vastness of the land. In Alentejo, farm and landscape soon become your home.

José António Uva and his vision for the estate
José António Uva is the eighth generation of the same family to have lived at São Lourenço do Barrocal, and is the lead developer on the estate.

Having spent much of his childhood here with his family listening to tales of the thriving estate, José was determined to bring the community back to life in a manner that respected its unique ecology and ancient history.

That was his starting point for the development of an ambitious project – the rejuvenation of the entire estate as a farm retreat –, so that others could feel as at home here as he always was.

A history that dates back to megalithic times
Inhabited since Neolithic times by sedentary tribes, São Lourenço do Barrocal was once the epicentre of the megalithic culture of Central Alentejo. This ancient history lays among the barrocais (the huge outcrops dotting the landscape), which represent some of the most monumental natural features of Alentejo.

Visiting the estate is a true voyage through time from the Iron and Bronze Age through the Roman and Moorish occupation to recent times.

In the nineteenth-century, it grew to become a thriving small farming village, providing enough livestock, grain, vegetables and wine to sustain up to 50 resident families year-round. With its own workshop rooms, schoolroom and bullring, it was home to a tight-knit community who dwelled there happily for many years.

Beautiful guest rooms & cottages
Open your room door and step directly onto the monte’s main street. Every architecture detail was planned to make you discover the farm and its perks.

Heritage meets natural materials and quality design and that is felt throughout all our guest rooms and cottages, where interiors cleverly combine selected Portuguese vintage pieces with contemporary crafted furniture and accessories.

Meadow Cottages 2BR
Admire the beauty of the landscape composed of meadows and ‘barrocais’, unfolding right before your eyes from your cottage’s patio and windows

Open to the infinity of the countryside, covered with olive groves, holm oaks and granite rocks, these cottages with two rooms are privileged places for socializing and engaging in conversations.

Whether inside, in the living room, or outside, in the patio, embrace a rural retreat that offers you space to breathe, every night lined with stars.

Break bread and relax together
Cook a meal in the kitchen and make plans for later on. Gather around the dining table celebrating all the good memories that come with great food. Feel to inhabit the ‘monte’, breaking bread and relaxing together. And from your patio admire the big blue sky.

Suites
Experience the handmade details of crafted pieces, the tranquillity and the sense of deep connection with the two centuries old estate and its farm buildings

Enjoy all the comfort of a spacious living room, with sofas craving you to take a seat and look at the Monsaraz castle crowning the nearby hill. Have exclusive access to the ‘barrocais’ landscape, opening the doors wide and letting the breeze in; immerse gently into a deep short sleep like it is so traditional in Alentejo.

Moments at the table
Within walking distance, you will find the farm shop. In it you can buy salty and sweet delicacies, artisanal bread baked in a wood-fired oven, wine, teas and liqueurs; enjoy an intimate gathering between yourself and some of the region’s flavours at the suite’s dining table.

Winery Rooms
Take part in the estate’s life by getting acquainted with the winemaking process happening in our cellar, right next door

On the way to your room, let yourself be carried away by the fleeting aroma that escapes through the open doors of our winery; at harvest time, share the hustle and bustle that the production of our blends brings to the surrounding landscape. And, by the reflecting pool or in the comfort of your sofa, make a toast to life.

Crafts and a classroom
In the place where today stands the winery were the various spaces meant for all the crafts that supported the community’s everyday life: bakery, dairies, meat smoking and salting, blacksmith, carpenters and a classroom for the education of the children.

Farm Rooms
Evidence the quiet heritage and authenticity of a farm building two centuries old with all the comfort you deserve

Sleep cradled by the restfulness of the landscape and open your window to a breathtaking view of Monsaraz. The morning light will invite you to go outside, stepping into the outdoor patio. Back inside, simplicity and handmade quality of every detail will whisper you memories of another pace and time.

Rooms that were once families homes
Giving direct access to the exterior, most of these rooms have their entrance in the main street of the ‘monte’. They used to be the homes of the farm workers and their families, maintaining even today their independent character, bearing, instead of the old front door numbers, the numbers necessary to identify the hotel rooms.

RESTAURANT
Take a seat at our table and taste the Alentejo’s respect for food
Get a taste of the region’s respect for flavour and simplicity. Our farm to table restaurant brings to your plate the freshest organic produce and local delicacies.

Our cuisine is deeply rooted in Alentejo’s tradition. Knowledgeable of its main ingredients and secrets, it adds a touch of contemporaneity to some of the dishes, never leaving to the side the authenticity that makes it so special.

Seasonal & local produce
Every month we ensure we use the best seasonal produce. We simply love good food knowing that its ingredients are sourced from our very own organic vegetable garden and from other small local producers.

That way, we know each single product is consistent in flavour and texture and that is what our restaurant is all about. This is one of the main reasons why you should come to taste our menu.

Fresh food on the grill under the nocturnal sky of the Alentejo
Taste fresh vegetables on the grill, alongside our delicious certified organic veal, acorn-fed pork of the Alentejo and fish from the Alqueva lake.

The restaurant Hortelão is located by the pool and the organic kitchen garden and is a great way to experience, upfront, amazing farm to table Summer food. It is open for dinners only, from mid Spring till the beginning of Autumn.

The best place to dine on hot summer nights
Located between the freshness of the pool, the green vegetable garden and the milky way that shines way up in the sky, this is a setting of choice for meals that go along with the soft warm wind of the Alentejo nights: ingredients cooked on the grill, wine served cool and tables spread out along the garden beds smelling of melon, pennyroyal and fennel.

Spa Barrocal
Welcome to a place of beauty, relaxation and holistic comfort. The Susanne Kaufmann Spa offers a wide range of spa treatments and organic treats perfectly tailored to the needs of the face and body, providing you with a sensorial experience and natural care. Susanne Kaufmann’s line of cosmetics, all natural, beneficial effective, are also available for purchase on location.

Effects-oriented treatments and packages
Skin competence and various highly effective treatments, plant ingredients, traditional applications and massage techniques, complement each other and are combined here into intensive, lasting experiences, which especially include effects-oriented applications for radiant, beautiful skin.

Wellbeing treatments & classes
One of the options to de-stress and benefit from tranquillity is to take advantage of a series of beauty and relaxation treatments, and of wellbeing classes that will happen outdoors whenever possible, taking advantage of the natural setting of the estate, among which:

• Scrubs & body wraps
• Detox massages & lymph drainages
• Sports & classic massages
• Manicures & foot care
• Tai chi & chi kung
• Pilates, yoga, or personal training

Spa facilities
A beautiful single vaulted aisle serving all the spa treatment rooms is one of the most striking architectural features of both spa and hotel in Alentejo.

Its 40 metres hold a monastic feeling that leads you to an immersive state of wellbeing and relaxation. Among its amenities, the spa offers dry saunas (temporarily closed as a preventive measure).

The studio
Enter the spa and find your way into the studio, the perfect space to unwind and allow yourself those few minutes for your everyday workout routine.

Swimming pool
Relax and take a dip. Let the coolness of the water refresh you from the Alentejo’s hot glowing summer days. Be in communion with the elements, the aromas and the colours that surround you, and admire the huge 4 metre granite rock set inside the water that is there as a silent testimony of the incredible history that forms the built and the natural landscape.

WINE
São Lourenço do Barrocal wines are made with extreme care from grapes produced on the estate and harvested by hand, following an organic production method*.

These are high-quality wines, which continue a cycle of self-sustainability, present in this agricultural property since its foundation in 1820, and which represent the innovative impulse of its founder, Manuel Mendes Papança, whose efforts led to the creation of the wine community of Monsaraz and the region as a demarcated winemaking area.

In a typical Alentejo climate, but under the influence of Lake Alqueva, the grapes grow on the estate with respect for nature and the ancestry of the granite outcrops, privileging time, like everything that takes place at Barrocal.

From vines developing in granite and clay soils, punctuated by Monsaraz shales, where they create deep roots for greater resilience and robustness, grapes are born with great freshness and acidity, ripening gradually, to be harvested under careful curation. Meticulous dedication is given to the selection of each variety and its subsequent integration in production.

Manual, natural production, with its own identity
The creation of products of excellent quality has an unequivocal origin in the manual detail with which we approach all the stages of the process of making our wines, in a closed cycle taking place entirely inside the estate.

Each plot of the vineyard is worked individually, with greater optimisation of resources, the vast majority of plots being watered only by the action of the few drops of rain of the Alentejo. The grapes suffer less during harvesting and selection, both handmade with meticulousness.

The contemporary and fresh profile of the wines demonstrates the preservation of the identity of the Alentejo vineyards and the unique terroir of Monsaraz, where foreign varieties also thrive, as well as the balance that can only be obtained by natural processes, which privilege acidity and the non-presence of additives.

Organic wines with deep roots
São Lourenço do Barrocal wines care for the preservation of the biodiversity and natural resources of the Alentejo, and of the estate where they are crafted, guaranteeing the continuation of a 200-year-old family legacy and the practice of self-sustainable agriculture, which respects nature’s cycles and uses organic production.

Careful work with the vineyards and grapes gives rise to ‘high expression’ blends under an exclusive brand since 2011. They are wines with a current profile, open to the world, but with deep roots in its land made of granite rocks and hot weather.

Winery
The winery represents one of the crucial areas for the regeneration of the estate, producing first-class single-estate wines, created by the award-winning winemaker Susana Esteban.

From its own 15 hectares of vineyards, come the hand-picked grapes which form the basis of limited bottlings, the remaining grapes carefully blended before being matured.

The winery comprises a symmetrical vault that is home to two fermentation vats for grape-stomping, and seven concrete vats on each side, with capacity for around 80,000 litres of wine.

Adjacent, you can find a room with French oak barrels and clay amphorae, as well as venues for tastings. Alongside the pool, the winery is one of the estate’s locations where Souto de Moura’s architecture is most visible.

A terroir that manifests itself naturally in each harvest
Recognising the area’s outstanding terroir more than a century ago, São Lourenço do Barrocal’s founder helped to foster the region’s reputation for winemaking, today one of the most notable in Portugal, by planting many thousands of vines in the 19th century.

At the heart of the Alentejo winemaking region and influenced by the Alqueva lake, the climate in the estate alternates between hot, dry days, and cool and humid nights, which facilitates the gradual maturation process of the grapes.

Vines rooted in clay, granite and schist soils, with low levels of groundwater, and cared for only by natural production methods – such as the planting of lupine and fava beans between the vineyard’s rows or the manual pruning of bunches to rebalance the plant – originate quality grapes, extremely aromatic, each year of harvest reflecting a unique terroir.

The winemaker:Susana Esteban
Our wines result from a meticulous work, led by the award-winning winemaker Susana Esteban, renowned for her fresh and vibrant creations. The surprising number of indigenous grape varieties that can be found in Portugal made Susana, a native of Spain, take roots in the sunny Alentejo.

Her work has been recognised both nationally and internationally, rewarding her with the most prestigious prize that a winemaker can receive in Portugal, the title of “Winemaker of the Year”, by Revista de Vinhos, making her the only woman to earn this distinction to date.

Wine tastings and visits to the winery
Discover our winery, located in the heart of the ‘monte’, and our winemaking tradition, as well as the grape varieties that are grown here. End the visit with a wine tasting, allowing the terroir to manifest itself in each bottle. Wine tastings and visits to the winery are held every day and require prior appointment.

You can also take a short walk or bike ride through the estate’s vineyards, framed by the castle of Monsaraz (at one’s leisure and not included in the visit to the winery).

Enjoy a relaxing stay in the heart of Alentejo
Enjoy a few days in a farm estate retreat that has been in the same family for over two centuries. Stay in an understated luxury hotel in Alentejo, set in the foothills of medieval Monsaraz and nearby the Alqueva lake.

We cultivate modern comfort so you can have the utmost experience while staying on a working farm, in communion with nature, heritage and people of all ages, creating a budding community in this wild corner of Alentejo.

The meadow
A soft hug of wild flowers and perennial tufted grasses surround the heart of the estate. Nature lavishes in scattered colours, bringing butterflies and birds closer to the monte. Green is ever here, to soothe the sun-drenched summers, tinting golden as it melts into the countryside.

The orchard
Near to the old water wheels and irrigation canals what used to be so vital for the vegetable garden that once existed inside the walls, the orchard is a fragrant garden dedicated to producing different fruit varieties for consumption of the restaurant and hotel.

Let yourself be carried away by the beauty of the seasons, the leaves, the flowers and the colors of all kinds of fruit trees: apple, pear, peach, orange, fig and cherry, just to name a few.

The vegetable garden
Seasons rule above everything else in this farm garden. With raised beds where crops are organically cultivated in order to provide guests with the freshest vegetables, herbs and fruits, it follows a strict planting calendar so the ecosystem has a bountiful and ecologically friendly effect.

Weddings
Let you and your guests be greeted by ancient olive trees and an immense sky, serving welcome drinks in the vegetable garden, in the beehive garden, in the meadows, or in venues such as the hotel bar, the winery rooms or the 200 year old olive mill room, all interconnected by outdoor terraces, where all can be entertained and catered with fresh farm to table food.

Hold your event at the old olive mill room
Located in the room that used to keep the estate’s olive oil mill, this facility with a view opening out onto the countryside constitutes a wonderful venue.

Its 120 sq. m. of indoor space and 110 sq. m. of outdoor terrace constitute an area capable of receiving all kinds of events, from cultural to corporate, equiped with everything necessary to accommodate and facilitate the hosting of your guests.

Sharing experiences
The estate was once a bustling small community, where people would gather to participate in special celebrations and exchange goods and services.

We would love to welcome you and your cultural event here as a way to bring forth this sharing of knowledge and experiences once again. We host conferences, lectures, wine tastings, regional product tastings, product launches, among many other initiatives.

Flowers & pasture
In this magnificent landscape it is nature that holds sway: jewel-like carpets of wild flowers clothe every meadow, creating a lush paradise for walkers who can find shelter and shade under the dark leaves of thousands of cork and holm oak trees.

Every season charms its way across the fields, but it is during springtime that lavender and chamomile fill the air with heady scents and colours, providing a scenery rich in pastures for all roaming cattle and shelter for partridges and wild rabbits.

Dark Sky Reserve
The sky is the limit in Alqueva’s Dark Sky Reserve, an area covering more than 3.000 square kilometres surrounding the biggest artificial lake in Europe.

The excellent atmospheric conditions and clarity make it possible for visitors to enjoy stargazing for most of the year. The night sky seems to have more sky in the world’s first “Starlight Tourism Destination”. This is, in fact, one of the best of all places to watch the sky and the stars at night.

Cattle
São Lourenço do Barrocal boasts its own unique beef herd of pedigree cows, whose origins lie in the native Alentejanas, crossed with specially imported French Salers and Limousin bulls.

Moving about the blanketed countryside, the herd is part of the landscape, supplying our farm to table restaurant and the whole working estate with meat characterized by its depth of flavour.

Birds
In the Alentejo, birds are the best barometer of the changing seasons. In April, it’s the appearance of the first swallow hatchlings that herald the coming of spring.

Here you can find and watch all kinds of birds that come and go like the great bustard, now a protected species, after having been hunted almost to extinction in the nineteenth century.

Storks are probably the most recent permanent natural phenomenon. Whereas in the past they would leave in the Winter, these days higher temperatures have allowed them to stay all year round in these lands.

Grab a book and sit under the shade of a cork tree
At São Lourenço do Barrocal you have seven hundred hectares to choose from when deciding the perfect location for your picnic.

Whether by the lake shore, listening the water murmur, or protected by the rocky outcrops that give so much character to this land, you will find a cork tree and its generous shade to sit under. Take the basket we have prepared for you and add a friend or two.

Our picnic basket
We have a picnic menu that comprises some light food and regional delicacies, accompanied by São Lourenço do Barrocal wine or any other beverage more suited to your taste. If you have any special requests or dietary restrictions, please let us know and we will be happy to accommodate your requests.

Roam over the estate
Feel free with the wind on your face as you ride through the estate getting to know every inch of its 780 hectares. You are welcome to discover the ancient menhir, the roman dam, the vineyards, the cereals fields and the storks nests.

Come across our cattle which is always wandering the fields, feeding of its pasture, and watch the partridges rapidly flow among the trees and shrubs. Take one of our guided tours and ride til the hilltop castle of Monsaraz to watch the sunset over the big lake.

Ride under the full moon of summer
Here, where the stars shine brighter in the night sky, the moon also likes to appear quite big and full. In a way like no other, enjoy the lukewarm summer nights flooded by the light of this lunar phase: ride on horseback through the estate and its surroundings, having the night and the celestial bodies as companions.

Riding lessons with Lusitano horses
At your disposal, we have Lusitano thoroughbred horses, the oldest saddle horses in the world. They are fit to take you galloping if you are an experienced rider but they are gentle as well, making them perfect for horseback riding lessons.

For children we have prepared a set of learning levels that will lead them from the first contact with the animal to the discovery of exercises focusing on relaxation, posture and balance, grooming techniques, anatomy and food.

Fly over the estate and Monsaraz landscape
Enjoy the first rays of the sun as you join the break of dawn to rise over the immensity of the Alentejo landscape in a hot air balloon. Take-off from inside the estate, and feel the thrill of flying soothingly above the monte, the hilltop village of Monsaraz, the glimmering Alqueva lake and the cattle grazing the fields.

Let yourself go with the swing of the wind and cruise the skies trusting the Emotion professional team. Have a luxurious experience, where the land’s authenticity is slowly unveiled from the air.

The ride
Balloons can take from 4 to 12 people (basket’s size will vary accordingly). Children can take part in the adventure, as long they’re 6 years old and 1,20 m high at least. During summer time, flights only take-off early in the morning; in winter, rides might happen also in the afternoon; all flights are subject to availability and to the will of the weather.

Sailing, speed boating, sup paddling or wild swimming in the lake
Navigate the most recent lake in the country, the Alqueva, on a tour that will introduce you to the ecosystem, including the sands of the golden island, where you can bathe.

Let yourself be sailed by a Dutch Westlander boat from 1913 or by one of the motorboats of Alqueva Cruzeiros, which in addition to providing you with exclusive tours, gives you the possibility to do water ski, wakeboard or sup paddle.

Enjoy the largest man-made lake in Europe
Take a few moments to appreciate the new beauty brought to the landscape by the Alqueva dam, the biggest water reservoir in Europe, with 250 sq. km. of total area, encompassing beautiful views towards many castles of the region, and the possibility to discover hidden nooks in its recesses.

Discover the castle, the big lake, and the region’s historic small villages
Ride miles after miles on a top-notch Pinarello bicycle, pedaling safely through the most beautiful and well-preserved tar roads in search of historic villages, small hermitages and across the bridge over the large Alqueva lake from which you can see the castles of Monsaraz and Mourão; discover the vast landscape of the Alentejo vineyards and visit the local producers looking for the region’s most famous trilogy of cheese, bread and wine.

Come fishing for black bass and pike-perch
In one of the most special places in Europe for the sport fishing of black bass and pike-perch, the great Lake Alqueva, spend a day with Duarte Cebola, a guide specialized in this activity: learn to prepare the hook and the bait, to identify the fishing spots, to launch the fishing rod and, in the end, return these species to their natural habitat, as this is all about sport fishing.

Uncover the fish that swim in the big Lake Alqueva
As the largest artificial lake in Europe, Alqueva is also the dam with the greatest diversity of fish for sport fishing and the one with the biggest amount of black bass for this practice.

You can also fish for pike-perch and barbel, and learn about the structures, of stones, herbs and even submerged trees, where they most like to look for the bleak, the pumpkinseed sunfish and the river crayfish.

Do a historical walk through the property and its old olive trees
Discover with our historian the natural and agricultural landscape of the estate – including its old olive oil mill room, the ancient bee garden, the winery and the bullring – with a walk that will take you along the Olive Trees Trail, some of them with more than a thousand years old, other olive oil production structures and the estate’s own vineyards.

Try Barrocal olive oil
Get to know the productive activities of the Alentejo and its regional products and try our organic olive oil, the estate’s hand-harvested olives, seasoned with orange, the artisanal bread of the nearby village of Baldio and the very traditional olive oil cake.

Local plants and folk customs
Discover the plants that exist throughout the Alentejo region inside our own estate, a diversity as vast as the connection between the local populations and these forgotten resources: hiking the 7 km of the Birds Trail, discover some of its most curious plants – medicinal, aromatic and edible – (whose traditional uses are discovered along the way), as some of its most beautiful flowers such as the pink butterfly orchid or the laudanum, so characteristic of Monsaraz.

Generational knowledge
Let yourself be led by the biologist Nuno Guégués, of Portugal Birds & Trails, whose connection to the Alentejo and to the ancestral communion with the regional uses and customs linked to nature, and to the resources that we find in it, is born in the family context. With specialization in ornithology, our guide can still surprise you with a bird or two.

Walk around the lake and hike till Monsaraz
The Alqueva lake is Europe’s biggest artificial water reservoir, covering an area of 250 sq. km. That being said, imagine all you can discover by walking along its shores and hiking up the gentle hills that border it.

We have identified some of the estate’s best routes, with the most iconic settings, so you can more easily uncover its hidden corners and enjoy Monsaraz and its surroundings. Discover the Birds Trail, the most comprehensive of the estate, or the Olive Trees Trail that takes you back in time, right till the megalithic era.

Our landscape & wildlife
Seasons take hold of the land, letting it exhale at different paces, which makes hiking in Barrocal a singular experience at any time of year. In springtime, wildflowers change brusquely the scenery left by mild winters, abundantly covering the fields.

Summer is golden hot, with fields of wheat only dotted by cork and holm oaks. Autumn and winter are crowded with about one hundred different species of birds, making the Alentejo a paradise for birdwatchers as well.

Discover the Alentejo and its singular way of life
The Alentejo is one of the best preserved landscapes and one of the least populated regions of southern Europe. Its vast open country is home both to tradition and contemporary culture, renewing itself as a region that is global but not globalised.

The sense of beauty is found almost everywhere, from whitewashed villages and craggy outcrops to undulating plains peppered with cork oak and olive trees. Fairly close to Lisbon, it occupies almost one-third of Portugal. Yet, somehow, it is still a confined region, inhabited by friendly people and a quiet charm.

Fine potteries made from local clay and naive hands
As Portugal’s largest pottery centre, São Pedro do Corval has been the home to families of master potters who dedicate their life to the craft. Adobe bricks and terracotta objects are handmade, each day, in the workshops that border the main street and are a living proof of the region booming crafts.

Pillows and blankets to warm the cold nights
Each village in the Alentejo has its own distinct pattern for the particularly handsome traditional blankets and pillows hand-loomed in wool. The heritage and contemporary designs of Reguengos de Monsaraz are especially lovely, and are perfect for cosying up with on cool nights.

Bread is the almighty product of this region
The bread of the Alentejo is justly famous, as befits an area that, thanks to its hot summers and vast open spaces, has for centuries been known as the breadbasket of Portugal. Most villages have their own bakery, such as Telheiro, where bread continues to be baked every morning in a wood-burning oven.

Évora: One of Portugal’s most beautifully preserved medieval towns
Shaped by more than twenty centuries of history, this world heritage city began a golden age when the Portuguese kings made convents and royal palaces sprung up among medieval streets and houses.

Monsaraz: A hilltop castle with stunning lake views
One of the oldest settlements in southern Portugal, Monsaraz retains the marks of hundreds of years of raging battles, conquerors and revenge, all crammed up in its fortified hilltop castle. Climb up and awe at the view.

Alqueva Lake: Where fun by day meets the stars by night
Enjoy your holiday in Alentejo and relax in the shores of the biggest artificial lake in Europe, where water sports and boat rides are available all-year-round. For those loving silence and universe’s mysteries, there’s an immense clear sky by night to watch the stars.

Website: www.barrocal.pt

Rooms: 22

Price: from 237 EUR per night