The Bonjardim way
Bonjardim is a small wine estate from 1756 in central Portugal. Over here, we do things differently.
Bonjardim Wines make you get back in touch with nature - the mother and soul of organic wine.
Unlike many other wineries, we don't pick flavors from a laboratory menu. All the taste comes from our vineyard's unique terroir: its soil, microclimate and ecosystem. That's how we can guarantee you that no wine tastes like ours.
An explosion of color, aroma, taste and a great storage perspective (5-20 years) are the result of all the care and attention given to our wines.
Our aim is to add value to our region by producing wine following traditions, respecting nature and involving the local community.
Our production is limited to 3 hectares (7.4 acres) producing only 3500 liters (925 US gallons) per 1 hectare (2.5 acres).
That’s not much. Why do we make our life so difficult? For us it’s about quality, not quantity.
If you drink this wine, you protect a billionth part of the cultivated land of our globe and stimulate the balance between people, nature and economy. It is this philosophy that makes the wine an adventure to taste.
Why organic?
Robust grapevines. Organic farming makes our vines self-reliant against diseases - they’re not dependent on artificial fertilizers or chemical pesticides (unlike in conventional wineries).
No added yeasts. Wild yeasts are already present on the grape skin. They are active and give a unique signature to the wine.
No fertilizers. This means the vines must seek nutrients deep underground. This increases the terroir of the wine. Deep roots also suffer less from droughts.
No herbicides. This gets you a great variety of plants in the vineyard, which attracts all kinds of different insects. The vineyard’s ecosystem is in balance.
No insecticides. No need for adding insects or killing insects with insecticides just to keep the insect population in balance.
No fungicides. Traditional fungicides that enter the juice of the vines leave residuals in the grapes that badly affect the taste of the wine. Fungicides also kill the wild yeasts that transform sugar into alcohol and that add to our wines’ unique terroir.
Local jobs. The local community flourishes, as the labor-intensive organic method and traditional vinification in granite tanks create jobs.
Hopefully our wines contribute to new friendships and trigger a nice conversation about how the world could look like.
Combine the wine with a meal of natural flavors and drink it with not too many, but good friends. That’s the best way to become part of the story of our wine.