Undiscovered gem in the heart of Portugal

Aug 19 2006 By Bess Manson

With stunning countryside, gastronomy and wine, the Portuguese region of Alentejo is perfect for a summer getaway.

Tears well up in our driver Juan's eyes as he sings, in a Fado-esque lilt, of his beloved Alentejo. As he raises his glass of fine wine at the end of his melancholy song I quite understand, after only three days here, why he is so enamoured with this region of Portugal.

This rural idyll, where the summers are deliciously hot and the winters mercifully mild, is "paraiso", Juan says, launching into another verse.

There is certainly a romance to Alentejo - Portugal's biggest region and a rural hub. While you can get to the Algarve in an hour from some parts of this region, it is about as far as you can get from that tourist Mecca in every other way.

Vast sun-baked plains give way to rolling hills of wild flowers in purples, reds and white. The pace is slow and the tourists are few.

If Tuscany or Provence are your bag, you'll love Alentejo. Like those two spots, Alentejo promotes itself on stunning countryside, gastronomy and wine - plus a sense of isolation hard to find in those fabled corners of Italy and France.

Many Portuguese city people are buying land here, making a break from the somewhat overpopulated Algarve. British bolt-hole seekers are catching on to the merits of the area but it is still a relatively undiscovered gem.

As soon as we enter the Alentejo region I'm smitten. Driving south from Lisbon, the landscape takes us through cork plantations and olive groves - two of the country's major exports - then further south to mile after mile of vineyards.

Our first stop, following Juan's skilful negotiation through a raging spring rainstorm, was in Beja. After a brutally early start for most of our group of six, we were gagging for food. And boy, did it arrive in epic proportions.

In fact, it's fair to say that we simply lurched from meal to vineyard to yet another slap-up nosh-up before tumbling into our beds more than sated and wondering how to cope with the next day's food intake. Funnily enough though, we coped rather well.

So Beja, and our first meal at Clube de Campo Vila Gale - a stylish whitewashed resort favoured by the city folk of Lisbon.

Lunch began with chorizo, cured pork, scrambled egg with asparagus (a dish that turned up a lot), olives, earthy mushrooms, followed by fish, followed by a pork dish, followed by a cake so eggy I felt my cholesterol levels heading north.

All this was washed down with wine from the adjoining vineyard, Casa Agricola Santa Vitoria, where we later ventured for a more formal tasting.

Then it was off to yet another wine tasting at the Herdada da Malhadinha Nova estate. Trying to sound reasonably coherent we discussed the merits of the wine, which among our gaggle of journalists used to ordering the house red, consisted mainly of "pretty good, eh?" Apart from the Frenchman, who put us to shame.

Winemakers are passionate about their trade here. They still press the plonk with their feet and will soon offer the same privilege to punters, who will be able to stay on the vineyard and work the grape harvest.

Our first overnight stay was at the Albergaria Betica Hotel in the quaint whitewashed village of Pias. Exhausted by some white-knuckled driving, we hardly had time to appreciate the four-poster beds and lovely vistas of the village.

After a hearty breakfast of fruit and cold meats we headed to the beautiful town of Moura to learn something about olive oil at the local museum.

It was another taste-tastic experience. Some of the olive oil we were treated to came from trees five centuries old. The Frenchman among us took the prize for guessing all the right elements in the oils while the rest of us just slurped the stuff up greedily.

But oh how the mighty monsieur fell from top of the class at the cured pork factory later that afternoon in the town of Barrancos, after another well-deserved and suitably large lunch. Being a vegetarian - I know, a Frenchman who doesn't eat meat sounds like a contradiction in terms - it was hardly surprising he had to make a swift exit.

That night, we travelled to Portal to stay at the Hotel Refugio da Vila - only an hour from the Spanish border and one and a half hours from Lisbon. Transformed from an old rural manor house into a classically beautiful hotel, Refugio da Vila has 30 beautifully furnished rooms, including nine suites.

The magical kitchen garden provides some of the herbs, vegetables and fruit used at the hotel's cooking school, where we enrolled for a morning lesson.

Nightlife here is not hugely sophisticated - think karaoke in a bar where three generations get up to sing Paulo De Carvalho's E Depois do Adeus (And After The Farewell) - the song that was played on national radio to signal the beginning of the revolution on April 25, 1974. That song would later represent Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest and most Portuguese know the words by heart.

This gin joint certainly wasn't the trendy bar it was touted as by a local, but we were welcomed with open arms to enjoy a wonderful and utterly tuneless night.

Our last stop before another hair-raising drive into Lisbon was the beautiful fortified walled city of Evora, a Unesco World Heritage site.

With its huge cobbled squares and narrow streets evoking memories of the Moorish presence, Evora is an elegant town that deserves some exploring, though the best way to soak up the atmosphere is to sip a coffee or beer in one of the many cafes that line the squares.

All this eating and drinking with only minimal amounts of walking (from mini-bus to restaurant or vineyard and back to mini-bus) made for a truly decadent visit to Alentejo.

But in the absence of a chauffeur, fly-drive is really the best way to tackle the region, though cycle and walking paths have been developed in many areas for the more energetic tourist.

It was with some reluctance that I left the Alentejo. I didn't at all feel like swapping those rolling hills of wild flowers for the fields of lights that greeted us as we landed in London. I could quite handle the country life of a Portu-gal a while longer.

* Bess Manson flew TAP, which offers return flights from Gatwick and Heathrow into Lisbon from around £100.

* TAP reservations: 0870 241 7437/www.flytap.com

* Tailormade holiday operator

Destination Portugal offers seven nights' B&B at the refugio da Vila Rural Hotel in the Alentejo from £499 per person, during summer 2006, including return scheduled flights from London, accommodation in standard twin or double room and Group 'A' car hire for duration of visit.

* Destination Portugal also arranges regional departures, usually by BMI baby, to connect with London flights, from around £60 return ex-Manchester and £66 ex-Glasgow.

* Destination Portugal reservations: 01993 773 269/www.destinationportugal.co.uk

* Portuguese National Tourist

Office enquiries: 0845 355 1212/www.visitportugal.com