The Adega Cartuxa, in Évora, achieved its best year ever in terms of wine tourism in 2023, with more than 30,000 visitors, and opened a new unit in the city centre this month, it was announced today.

Speaking to Lusa, João Teixeira, director of Adega Cartuxa, a wine producer owned by the Eugénio de Almeida Foundation (FEA), indicated that the growth in wine tourism in 2023, compared to the previous year, was almost 40%.

"In 2022, we were already quite satisfied, because we had reached 22,000 visitors", but last year, taking into account the number of visits, "we had the best year ever", with around 30,400, he stressed.

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Last year, the good performance of this winery was also observed in the annual turnover, which rose to 25 million euros, i.e. higher than the 23.6 million recorded in 2022, said João Teixeira, describing 2023 as "a record year".

According to the manager, in terms of wine tourism, Brazilians are still the majority of visitors to the Adega Cartuxa unit in Quinta de Valbom, on the outskirts of Évora, but the weight of tourists from this country has decreased compared to previous years.

"We were used to having [percentages of] 60% and 70% of Brazilian visitors, as we had in 2019, but in 2023, the weight was 57%", he said, adding that, even so, this market grew last year.

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The director of the wine company pointed out that national and foreign visitors "grew proportionally more" than those from Brazil.

Following the Brazilians, the manager listed the Portuguese as the most frequent visitors to Cartuxa's wine tourism, followed by American and British tourists, then the Spanish and, finally, the French.

Of the approximately 30,400 visitors, "about 22,000 made an appointment for a visit and wine tasting" and the remaining eight thousand "only made the visit and, possibly, purchased products [from the brand] at the wine tourism shop", he noted.

Pointing out that the unit in Quinta de Valbom registers, in some periods, an occupancy rate of 100%, the same manager revealed that Adega Cartuxa opened a new wine tourism space this month in Páteo de São Miguel, in the historic centre of Évora.

"In Quinta de Valbom, the theme of the visit is very focused on the winery, the vineyard and the old building, which dates back to the 16th century and where we have the Pêra-Manca [wine] barrels ageing and the wine is still produced in clay jars", he stressed.

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In the new wine tourism unit, in addition to wine tasting, the aim is to provide visitors with a cultural experience about the history and mission of the FEA.

Visitors can also visit the Palácio dos Condes de Basto, which was once the residence of King D. Sebastião, in the first half of the 15th century, when he studied in Évora, and its gardens.

"The palace was bought by the Eugénio de Almeida family even before the [creation of] the foundation" and "was restored for their residence", and "with the transfer to the FEA, it became available for visits", he added.

The Páteo de São Miguel currently houses the foundation's headquarters and offices and the museum centre of the Eugénio de Almeida family's Carriage Collection, among other facilities of the institution.

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