Seasonal Picks · Portugal
The Alentejo, in late September.
A short note on the days when the country slows again, the harvest is in its third week, and the long lunches return to the veranda. What is open, who is cooking, and where we are sending guests this month.
What changes, in late September.
The houses we work with — six of them, all small, none more than fifteen rooms — open their verandas again for long lunches. The kitchens cook only what came in that morning. The owners, who have spent the summer indoors, return to the table and begin telling the stories that summer did not have time for.
The wine, of course, is everywhere. The harvest in this corner of Portugal runs from the second week of September into the first week of October, and there is no other moment in the year when the country opens so widely to a guest who comes by introduction.
"In September the Alentejo is no longer performing for anyone. It is, finally, at home — and it sets a place at the table for those who arrive quietly."
— António Vasconcelos, winemaker, Reguengos de Monsaraz
Three houses, this season.
We will not name all of them. But three are open this month, and three are worth writing down.
- A small estate outside Évora — eight rooms, one long table, the family at every meal. Open to guests through the second week of October.
- A monastery converted by a single family, in the hills toward Spain. Quiet enough to hear the bells of the next village. Twelve rooms, never full.
- A working farm near the coast, with a chef in residence who came from one of Lisbon's better dining rooms and has never gone back. Six rooms, by introduction only.
What to do, and what not to do.
Bring linen, but bring a sweater for the evening. Order the white from the Alentejo before the red — the September whites, with two years on them, are the quiet pleasure of the region. Take the long road from Évora to Mértola; do not take the highway. Arrive at lunch, and stay for dinner. The afternoon is the meal.
And one more: write to us before you come. The small handful of doors we open in this season are not on any list, and we do not answer the question of where, only the question of when.
A note on booking
We take introductions for late September up until the first week of August. After that the houses are full, and we begin saying no — politely, but with no exception.
