Julia's Portuguese marathon – Alentejo

The third article in Julia's Portuguese marathon series focuses on the largest geographical region, the Alentejo, and includes no fewer than 266 tasting notes.

The Alentejo is a massive area, occupying around one third of the Portuguese mainland, so it is not surprising that it has such diversity in terms of landscape, climate and wines. The name means 'beyond the Tagus' and the region is separated from the rest of the country by that river. You can download ViniPortugal's map of the wine regions here. 

It wasn't until I went by car from Lisbon, south to Beja (still a...