Until recently, legal restrictions, a monopoly in the market, and fixed tastes abroad all conspired to keep winemakers in Portugal’s Douro Valley focused on making their famous fortified port wines. But things are changing, and Dirk Niepoort is leading the charge

This is not a bike. This is a game changer for the young and a life saver for the sick and helpless. This is mobility, which in developing countries means access to a world of hitherto inaccessible opportunities. This is schools and medical treatment and a route to market. This is a future.

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In his 20s, José António Uva studied at the prestigious ESCP Europe business school in Paris and worked in the hectic world of London finance. He never dreamed that it would all lead back to his family’s ancestral farm in Alentejo. But with patience and a lot of hard work, he has transformed a crumbling property in southern Portugal into one of Europe’s most unique, and enchanting, destinations. 

By José Uva, in conversation with Colin O’Brien

Alentejo is a world apart. It covers a third of Portugal’s landmass, but is home to just five percent of its population. Mention its name to most people and it will conjure up images of gently rolling countryside and panoramic horizons, but the border with Spain is characterized by distinctive granite hills and its long, mostly uninhabited coastline boasts some of the most stunning stretches of pristine beaches in Europe, complete with around 275 days of sunshine annually.

Trish saw them first. We were ascending a gradual climb on a ridge that overlooked a sweeping valley below. Far in the distance, the Douro River carved a sinewy arc of blue into the landscape. The hillside to our right cascaded ever downward, etched with the parallel brown and green lines of the region’s famous terraced vineyards. There were farmers off in the distance somewhere between where the vineyards ended and where the Douro rolled through.

I wanted to be a pro cyclist when I was a kid. My interest in food came from there, from an athlete’s perspective, cooking food as part of that diet. Then I was playing frisbee one day in high school and when I jumped up to catch it I landed funny on my right leg and broke it. That was pretty unexpected. It was because of a bone tumor that had been there since birth, which I had no idea about. I was laid up for a long time, I had a bunch of metal put in, I still have a big scar from the knee up to my hip, and I couldn’t walk properly for a couple of years. It was hard, but I had to give up on the dream of racing bikes for a living. In retrospect, that’s probably a good thing, because I don’t think many of them are making real money doing it.