Monverde Wine Hotel + Quinta da Lixa

A stunning property filled with history and great wines. This article may be a bit long for your email, if so, make sure to click the link in the email to read the full article.

Monverde Wine Hotel, November 2022, photo by Kate

I figured it was the best time of year to share about my trip to Monverde Wine Hotel from last fall. While currently their vines have gorgeous grapes bursting with acidity getting ready for harvest, these photos were all taken in their dormant stages. The vineyards are magical at any season, so if you are headed to Portugal this summer or fall, do yourself a favor and visit.

About Monverde

Monverde Wine Hotel is a part of Quinta da Lixa. Quinta da Lixa was started by the Meireles family, two brothers and a cousin, in Vila da Lixa in 1986. The family has 9 properties on over 130 acres. When they first started out, they sold their wines in bulk in the local market. However, they quickly realized the quality of their own grapes and wines and started releasing estate bottled wines.

Monverde was another phase in their journey. Originally, it was built as a place to entertain friends, but has since grown to what it is today. The hotel has a few types of luxury accommodation depending on your needs. Which include 34 rooms each which vineyard views, 2 family style suites and 10 experience suites. Of course, you cannot have luxury these days without a beautiful spa, and theirs is breathtaking. I have never felt more at ease or relaxed. Each treatment room has a patio overlooking the vineyards where you can just sit in peace while drinking tea and taking in the view after your treatments have ended.

Room and spa view photos by Kate

The main building of the hotel is simple and elegant as it melds into the nature surrounding it. That was the goal of the designer, Fernando Coelho. The color palette of the buildings mirror the changing of the seasons in the vineyard. It truly is a beautiful thing when nature harmonizes with design. It makes sense this is how the hotel was designed as nature and sustainability are at the forefront at Monverde. Forty percent of the materials used to build the hotel were from sustainable sources, including most of the stones, which were reclaimed and used throughout the property. There are solar panels throughout the property and guests can be shuttled using electric vehicles. Quinta da Lixa is also sustainable in their winemaking.

Interior photo of the main building by Kate

Located in the Vinho Verde wine region

The vineyards and wine hotel are located in two of the 9 sub-regions of Vinho Verde. The eastern part of Sousa and the northern part of Amarante near the city. These areas boast mountains, valleys, and rivers. Even though they are further east, they are still influenced by the Atlantic Ocean.

Map of Vinho Verde by Kate, available on products here

The landscape is filled with lush pines, eucalyptus and lots of shrub bushes. These areas get lost of rain and humidity, they see a mix of maritime and continental climates with the Amarante sub- region seeing those higher temperatures in the summer. The vines are influenced from many microclimates , some help cool down the vines while others help warm them up. But what they also have going is great granite soil, and by great, I mean lacking nutrients. Remember, vines need to struggle to have the best concentrated fruit. Stoney granite soil makes the vines work harder to grow down deeper are exactly what the grapes need to thrive.

Looking out over vineyards at Monverde, photo by Kate

A little about the town of Lixa

The area of Lixa used to be a poor region. Wine and vegetables were grown in the area out of necessity to feed ones family not necessarily to sell their goods for profit. Many farmers trellised their vines to provide shade for the grapes but to also grow food under the vines. Farmers were able to utilize their land in the most efficient way. By trellising the vines, they were also able to minimize disease by getting the grapes farther off the ground. You don’t see as much trellising of vines as you once did in the area, but some of the smaller farms still do this.

How the local farmers fit in

Quinta da Lixa not only grow their own grapes, but they also buy from 200 local producers. This helps stimulates the local economy while employing a lot of residents. If you drive around the area, you will see that even the most modest homes have vineyards in their yards. The area prides themselves on their grapes. Quinta da Lixa has played a part in bringing back the local economy in a sustainable way.

Now for the wine

When I do winery visits and private tastings, I never disclose I work in the wine industry. I want to be treated as an average customer would, not be shown the “Disney” version. Quinta da Lixa and Monverde did not disappoint. Whether during our lunches, dinners or private wine tastings, we were treated with expertise and passion. In fact, they train their employees so well, that our private wine tasting sommelier let us know she was very new to the company. We thought she had been with them for years from the level of care and passion she had when discussing the family, the vineyards and the wines. The key to success in wine tourism doesn’t just lie in how great your wines are. It truly is how great your staff is, how knowledgable, hospitable and how much they pride themselves working for you. All these boxes were ticked by every employee we encountered during our week long stay. They make the wines truly shine.

A few Quinta da Lixa favorites of mine

I love the entire Quinta da Lixa wine portfolio, I stand by those words. I believe we tried every wine they make, we were there for a full week. They have a wine for every palate, even the Vinho Verde naysayers. At Monverde, the grapes planted in their 22 hectares are Loureiro, Avesso, Arinto, Vinhão and Touriga Nacional. They plant a few other grapes as well throughout their vineyard holdings as do the locals they buy from.

I won’t make this article longer than it already is and tell you about all of their wines, but I will talk about two that truly are memorable to me months later. Their Touriga Nacional rosé is one of the best rosé wines I have had. I think why it stands out so much to me is that you get the classic red fruit notes of tart currants, raspberries and juicy strawberries that one loves in a rosé wine, but you also get a bit more complexity with minerality and earthy notes coming through. It also is not a light rosé wine, it was a bit more medium bodied. It shined and sadly I cannot get it in the United States, so darn, we have to go back!

The other wine that I absolutely loved was their Morgado de Lixa Pet-Nat. The grapes are Loureiro and Alvarinho, two of the main grapes found in Vinho Verde wines. The wine has herbaceous and floral notes, is creamy and extremely refreshing, making this a stand out sparkling wine for me. A pet-nat, or pétillant natural, is the same thing as ancestral method sparkling wine. This method of winemaking involves bottling the wines before fermentation has stopped. This way it traps the carbon dioxide gas which allows the bottle to continue fermenting. You will see sediment from these wines in the bottle, this is the dead yeast. Don’t be scared, this is what gives the wines their complex aromas and flavors.

A few more photos for you

Monverde photos by Scott Johnson and Kate

I hope I have inspired you to visit one day. You will not be disappointed.