Herdade do Sobroso

Vidigueira: you leave Lisbon heading south and arrive there in two hours. It’s pure Alentejo, the great plain of Portugal. A few kilometers further on, Herdade do Sobroso, one of the most renowned luxury hotels in the country, is well loved in these lands, famous for its wines and absolute peacefulness.

Júlio, 36, knows this like no one else. He represents the estate and, as a hospitality professional, has been around the world a lot to understand what a guest really appreciates. (And yes, he started very young in the profession: “The earlier, the better!”). Sobroso is an example of this. The welcome is the most important thing: “When a guest arrives here, the first thing we do is try to understand their immediate needs, first and foremost. In summer, a glass of water can be more essential than a welcome drink!”. Then Sobroso’s beautiful surroundings will take care of everything else.

The estate is a complex that has the best story: a family story. It is run by Sofia, an oenologist, and her husband Filipe, a zootechnician. We’ll see how these professions fit in perfectly with the place. It all began in the 1990s when Sofia’s father, António, an architect, wanted to reconnect with the Alentejo – his mother was from the town of Portel, just a few kilometers away – and was looking for a property for the perfect project.

The word “hotel” is almost too poor to define Sobroso. In fact, it’s a cozy set of rooms spread over two buildings inspired by the traditional architecture of the Alentejo, aptly named “houses”, i.e. The Farm House and The Stork House (there are lots of storks in the Alentejo).

There’s a swimming pool with heated water, of course, but the best part is just a few meters from the rooms: the private lake and its fine sandy beach, with a massage area and a deck where intimate meals are served. “It’s like Bali in the Alentejo,” says Júlio. Right next to it runs the Guadiana River, which a few kilometers away connects to the Alqueva, Europe’s largest artificial lake and a true aquatic idyll.

“You can canoe on the lake! The children love to visit the spot where the turtles live. It’s natural learning”. That’s right: Sobroso is all about learning close to nature. Of its more than 1600 hectares, 1300 are a reserve area. There is plenty of wildlife: deer, wild sheep, fallow deer, wild boar, ducks, partridges, eagles, hawks, vultures, foxes… All you have to do is ask, and tours of this immensity will be organized. Sofia and Filipe are its great guardians. Júlio explains: “Their passion for wildlife is unwavering. Conservation is the goal. They know well, and we all know, that responsibility for the ecosystem has to be collective.”

“And that’s not all!” warns Júlio. “We can also see this world from the air!”. Sobroso offers hot air balloon rides with one of the most experienced pilots in the country. The trip, to be perfect, begins at sunrise, with the tethers being raised near the river.

On the ground, it’s easy to remember that we’re in one of Portugal’s best wine hotels. Intense and elegant nectars are produced here, with great aromatic complexity and natural freshness. All you have to do is stroll through the vineyards and then converge on the impressive winery for the tastings. Its wines have won important European and international awards.

But what joy is wine if it doesn’t come with food? Well, luckily we have Josefa, the Sobrosos’ restaurant chef. “A great woman from the Alentejo, a great master of Alentejo cuisine!” says Júlio. She too, like the mother of Sobroso’s founder, António, is from nearby Portel. “She learned from experience, she trained in life, and that’s why everything she cooks is amazing.” From her dogfish soup to the wild boar stewed in the oven, everything is exquisite. But it’s essential to try his award-winning crayfish bread soup!

As dinner just comes to an end, all you can hear is the river and the nocturnal animals.

There’s no reason to want to leave Herdade do Sobroso.