Casa Relvas is particularly committed to environmental, animal, and community responsibility. The producer has received a 3.8/4 rating from the Wines of Alentejo Sustainability Program. You can find more information about the certification here.
The producer supports environmental sustainability in numerous ways: nests have been built in and around the vineyards for white storks that inhabit the area, a large flock of Merino sheep handles winter maintenance of the vineyards, and chemicals are used minimally. About 40% of vineyard fertilization is handled by the estate's organic outputs (from animals and the winery). The carbon footprint is measured annually, and new measures are taken each year to reduce it further.
Casa Relvas also protects an endangered donkey breed on their property. Most of the wines are bottled in lightweight bottles. Regular cardboard boxes have been replaced with FSC recycled cardboard boxes. Water and energy consumption has been reduced by 30% per bottle over the past five years. The vineyards are irrigated with recycled water from a nearby village. Over the past ten years, the Relvas family has planted over 500,000 cork and stone pine trees in Alentejo. Check out this link to see why Casa Relvas is an "Earth Friendly Winery".
Their organic wine labels naturally indicate that the wine is certified organic. Additionally, the back label features the Earth Friendly Winery logo and the "100000 planted trees - reducing the carbon footprint" logo.
Casa Relvas is a family business. The Relvas family has been living off farming or winemaking for five generations. The current wine business was established in Alentejo in 1997.
- They currently have approximately 350 hectares of vineyards, 900 hectares of forest (mainly cork), and 250 hectares of olive trees.
- Production is approximately 6 million bottles per year, of which about 70% is exported to over 30 countries.
- Alexandre Relvas is one of Alentejo's most respected winemakers.
