Manuela Carmona is an ophthalmologist who leads a busy life in Lisbon, but she has never forgotten her Beira roots, returning to Sarnadas de Ródão in the far south of the Castelo Branco district whenever she can. In 2014, she decided to embark on a daring wine project to feed her fascination with wine history and culture, and to provide an escape from her intense professional life. With characteristic passion and fortitude, she set to work, allowing herself to be guided by her core principles of originality, excellence, innovation, taste and proficiency.

The challenge was a huge one. It takes courage to plant 12 hectares of vines in an area with no wine-growing tradition, a harsh climate with extreme temperatures and rough, arid, poor-quality soil, more suited to forests than vines. The design of the winery itself was entrusted to a prestigious architectural studio, whose remit was to conceive a symbolic and impressive building, bearing in mind that it was to be situated at the highest point on the estate, directly opposite the A23 motorway and visible to everyone passing by. Indeed, it was this fact that gave rise to the name Adega 23.

To design the style of the wines, she enlisted Rui Reguinga, an experienced oenologist who has worked in various regions. The grapes chosen include traditional Beira Interior varieties, as well as some fashionable types, with special mention going to two French varieties from the Rhône Valley – Syrah and Viognier –, which Manuela Carmona made a point of selecting for historical reasons. In the 12th century, King Sancho I needed to repopulate the region he had recently conquered from the Moors so he sought assistance from his grandparents, who ruled over lands in the Rhône, Toulouse and Provence. The knights and their retinues who were subsequently enlisted saw striking similarities with their homeland in the steep banks of the Tagus, renaming the small existing settlement Vila Velha do Ródão.

The first vintage arrived in the summer of 2017, with the first white and rosé wines hitting the market in June 2018 and the red a few months later. The bottles are impeccably presented and the wines themselves are a testament to the project's guiding principles: authenticity, identity, elegance, and ultimately excellence. It is an audacious venture, in which wine goes hand in hand with history and culture, truly honouring both the producer and Beira Interior itself.

Vineyards

Vineyard operations management: António Selas

Area of own vineyards: 12 hectares

Grape origin: Own grapes

Viticulture type: Integrated production

White grape varieties: Síria, Arinto, Verdelho, Viognier

Red grape varieties: Syrah, Rufete, Aragonês, Touriga Nacional, Alicante Bouschet

Wine cellar

General manager: Manuela Carmona

Head oenologist: Rui Reguinga

Resident oenologist: José Hipólito

Types of wine produced: White, rosé, red and sparkling

Wine brands: Adega23

Percentage of PDO/PGI production: 100% PDO

Average annual production: 200,000 litres / 47,000 bottles

Production destination: Domestic market (90%) and export (10%)

Wine tourism

Events, by appointment

Wine shop

Wine tasting

Part of the Beira Interior Wine Route