VALE DE ALMÁDENA
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Magda van der Rijst
One of our investors, Henk Bakker, who has been closely involved with A2B-online, owns a vineyard in Portugal.
It’s not every day you buy a house and find a vineyard attached. It’s rarer still when that vineyard holds ancient grape varieties, unknown even to local authorities. This is the unlikely story of Henk Bakker, a Dutch businessman turned winemaker in the Algarve.
I found myself sailing the Douro recently, aboard a luxury cruise ship. While it had all the hallmarks of a holiday, I was actually working. Destin Rivercruises had brought me on board to host talks on Douro wines—and frankly, it’s hard to imagine a better backdrop than those impossibly steep, terraced slopes gliding by.
It was during one of these tastings that a passenger, Henk Bakker, mentioned he had his own vineyard in the Algarve.
Now, a Dutchman chasing the sun to make wine is hardly surprising. But why Portugal? And of all places, the western Algarve, an area with no established reputation for viticulture? Did he know the first thing about grapes when he started?
His story was too intriguing to ignore, and it led to the article you’re about to read.
COINCIDENCE
Henk Bakker: ‘We certainly enjoyed wine at home—preferably French, though we drank Portuguese too—but professionally, I had no involvement in the wine trade whatsoever.’
Henk Bakker (72) has spent thirty years as director and co-owner of Van Uden Holdings. It’s a family-owned investment firm that traces its roots to 1850; it began as a brokerage, grew into a shipping line, and later diversified into transport and logistics.
It was business that first brought Bakker to the Algarve in 1991. Henk: ‘I had provided a bank guarantee for a business associate. When he was unable to meet his financial obligations, I acquired one of his holiday homes in Praia de Luz for our family.
‘We took to it immediately, feeling right at home and getting to know the local community. Mind you, this was thirty years ago, when Praia de Luz was still a two-hour drive from Faro airport. These days, thanks to the A22 motorway, we’re there in less than an hour.’
SOLD
Bakker mentions this travel time for a reason: that improved accessibility led to a surge of interest in the region.
Bakker: ‘When a beautiful area like this is opened up, people will follow. You could see that coming. By that time, I was involved in several property development projects, and at one point, an estate agent mentioned in passing that she’d been trying to sell a wine estate for a while.
‘The potential buyer, however, kept dragging his feet. He was endlessly negotiating, and she wasn’t prepared to drop the price any further.
‘I asked her what the asking price was. When she told me the figure—for nearly three hectares of land, three houses, plus barns and stables—I said right there and then: “Sold!”’
WHISPERING OCEAN
In 2020, for half a million euros, Bakker bought the estate now named ‘Sussurro d’Oceano’. The name means ‘Whisper of the Ocean’, a nod to the fact the vineyard lies just four kilometers from the sea.
‘The farm’s original name was Quinta de Capote, and it was once renowned for its fantastic Moscato grapes. By the time we bought it, however, it was a complete wilderness. We ended up clearing most of the vineyard.
We left just five hundred square meters untouched and decided to bring in the CVA (Vitivíncola da Região do Algarve). The CVA is the official body responsible for managing and controlling the designations of origin; they support local growers and specify which grape varieties are permitted.
‘They were absolutely stunned by the sheer variety of ancient grapevines they found. There were types they didn’t even recognise. They told us the plot was “a museum”.’
VINHA MISTA
As is common in wine regions with a long history, different grape varieties were traditionally planted intermingled. This diversity, the vinha mista, reduces the risk of a completely failed harvest.
These ‘field blends’ of ancient varieties are most often found in neglected or abandoned vineyards. Today, however, the vinha mista approach is seeing a resurgence, as this variation can often yield far more complex and exciting wines.
It was the enthusiasm of the officials from the Vitivíncola da Região do Algarve that prompted Bakker to purchase an adjacent 1.85-hectare vineyard
DESPERATE MEASURES
In a sense, viticulture in the Algarve had simply ground to a halt. In the old days, everyone grew grapes to make their own wine and to sell to the local cooperative.
Bakker: ‘It was an impoverished area, and the grapes were paid by the basket. So what did the poor sods do? They’d chuck stones in the bottom of the crate, pile the grapes on top, and earn a bit extra.
‘Nobody was paying any serious attention to the wine. The results were dreadful, the cooperative went bust, and there was simply no incentive to grow grapes. People left to find work elsewhere, and the whole area fell into neglect.’
TOASTING WITH THE PRESIDENT
Fortunately, some people never lost faith in the Western Algarve—including for its wine. Henk Bakker got into it by chance, found himself inspired, and enlisted experienced ‘Algarvios’ to make wine from his grapes. His winemaker is Pedro Mendes, who is at the helm at Falésia Wines, one of the Algarve’s leading estates.
Bakker: ‘It’s been a huge journey of discovery, in every sense. We’ve worked with the local Moscatel Graúdo (Muscat of Alexandria, ed.), with those ancient varieties whose names we still don’t know, and we’ve also planted Syrah, Alicante Bouschet, Touriga Nacional, and Aragonez.
‘The latter are already yielding beautiful bunches, after just three years. Winemaking is far from easy—there’s so much to it—but it’s a wonderful thing to be involved in. I think our own wine is excellent.
I always thought: “One day, perhaps, we’ll win an award.” But that’s already happened several times over. In 2021, in Albufeira, we won gold for our rosé and silver for our white. Far sooner than I ever expected.
Recently, Vale de Almádena was served at an official dinner in Lagos where the President of Portugal was in attendance. Bingo!’ ◼
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