ALGARVE WINE producers are working together to launch an Algarve wine route, Rota do Vinho do Algarve, to promote the regional wineries and wines for tourists and visitors.
The idea is to follow the example of other regional routes already operating in the country and to involve the 19 wineries in the region. Through this new promotional tool, the wines produced in the Algarve will be better advertised inside and outside the region.
The issue was debated at a symposium held during the Fatacil exhibition last month with the regional board of agriculture, Direcção Regional de Agricultura (DRA), and the new regional tourism board, Turismo do Algarve (TA).
Wine board
Some administrative issues, such as choosing the board that will lead and manage it, are still to be resolved before the initiative can start.
At present, only seven of the 19 wineries operating in the region have the infrastructures to host wine tastings and guided visits. The reduced number of wineries with conditions to offer promotional events is also pointed out as one of the aspects delaying the start of the project.
Castelão Rodrigues, director of the DRA in Faro, said: “Ideally, the wine route will start with the wineries that are prepared to be involved and the others will join when they can.”
Teresa Chicau, former member of the Alentejo wine tour, Rota do Vinho do Alentejo, who is helping Algarve producers, said: “it is important to have an interesting, well planned route, with quality events, so that visitors, many of them foreigners, buy the products and take the information back home.
“This way, Algarve wines have more of a chance of being recognised abroad.”
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