RURAL PORTUGAL: Sparkling wine exported to Champagne
- Written by Jack Soifer
In the North, close to Viana do Castelo, Minho, the former emigrant Jaime Riba, a successful expert in revamping old palaces in France, runs an ecological vineyard.
Originally from the village, of Geraz do Lima, he ran away from the dictatorship of Salazar, travelling over the very cold, snow-filled Pyrenees to France, where he lived in a shack while learning the skills of reconstruction.
Back in Portugal, Solar de Merufe produces an excellent sparkling demi-sec, which is now exported to Russia, France and Sweden. How come he exports to Champagne? Well, when tourists visit Champagne in France to acquire crates of the very expensive local wine, they also need a few bottles of a good sparkling for a lower price. Mr. Riba’s wine is the best choice for an acceptable price.
When entering the Swedish market, his local wholesaler made a market survey and decided to raise the proposed price, as Merufe’s wine had been awarded a top position.
In Portugal, to cut down expensive distribution costs, Merufe is sold directly to restaurants and off-licences in the north and in Lisbon, as well the healthy export trade. He sells ten thousand bottles of rosé and red, and 30,000 bottles of dry white and sparkling.
This family-owned, small enterprise has only three other employees. His wife, Gloria, runs a party-planning company, using the 500 year-old chapel on the premises for baptisms and weddings at weekends.
The family works 6.5 days a week. For eight months a year they receive tourists, mainly from Russia, for wine-tasting and also for purchasing handicraft from regional artists.
Do you know that EU’s largest exporter of Carnations is in Moncarapacho, a Swede. Of Bonsai orange-plants is in Algoz, a Scot. Of Pepper is in Alentejo, a Dutchman. Of Raspberries is in Olhão, a Portuguese man who lived in Germany.
Mr. Riba’s recipe for beating the crisis is:
• Reorganise your export agency in order to look for niches for gourmet produce abroad.
• Focus on the distribution of locally produced, quality produce.
• Bring in young professionals to the rural sector, and develop with updated technology and a love for ecological produce.
In coming issues of this column I’ll tell you about the very small, and very successful, local farmers who have received international prizes for olive oil, sheep-cheese, etc... All that is in my new book, ‘PORTUGAL RURAL - a oportunidade’ with a comprehensive summary in English, launched with an ecological lunch.
