Ever come across the sign for Howard’s Folly while driving through the industrial estate in Estremoz and wondered what the castle-like building is all about? Read on to find out more about Estemoz’ very own ‘urban winery’:
Words: Iain Blackwell
Photography: Courtesy of Howard’s Folly
Article originally published in Essential Marbella Magazine
The Winery
Founded in 2002, when Howard Bilton, a Hong Kong based entrepreneur and wine aficionado originally from Yorkshire, combined forces with David Baverstock, an Australian pioneer of modern winemaking who has revolutionised wine in Portugal by bringing the new world science to the old world wine industry. David is the only non-Portuguese national who has been awarded Winemaker of the Year, on three occasions, and he was recently created a Comendador (a style of knighthood) for his services to the agricultural industry. Howard, meanwhile, always had a soft spot for Portuguese wines and particularly those from the Alentejo region, and Howard’s Folly is the realisation of a long-cherished dream, with the main vineyard located in Portalegre in the heart of the Alentejo landscape. From here, several varietals are gathered and blended with grapes from local farmers to produce their alluring wines, most of this being accomplished at a state-of-the-art urban winery at Estremoz, a facility that is open to visitors for tours and tastings, with a wine shop and fine dining restaurant.
Bifanas Estremoz – One of our favourite spots and exactly what it says on the tin!
Bifanas Estremoz, bar and restaurant, specialises in bifanas: thinly sliced pork cooked in garlic and a little paprika, and served in a local bread roll with mustard on the side – with or without fries. A great stop-off for visitors and if you haven’t tried a bifana yet, served up and down the length of Portugal, then here is a good place to start.
On Sunday June 7th Estremoz and the whole of Portugal witnessed one of the most anticipated moments of the year—the presentation of the winner of ‘Got Talent Portugal’ 2020, and to say that Estremoz was probably the proudest town in Portugal is an understatement. Two young men from our town won the main prize and proved that Estremoz is not only rich in natural beauty and vineyards, but also in talented people.
One thing I love about eating out in Portugal is the dessert menu, and I always try to leave room at the end of the meal for a little bit of sweetness. I’m not talking about ice creams or the pre-bought-in desserts that a lot of places serve nowadays, but those that are marked on the menu as being ‘caseira’ or homemade.
Although Estremoz is a compact town and maybe not the first stop on the usual tourist trail, it offers a great selection of hotels, hostels, Airbnb apartments, rural retreats and boutique hotels to stay at. In this blog we offer some ideas of where to stay in Estremoz.
There are plenty of cafés and restaurants to try in Estremoz ranging from busy snack-bar places that are always packed-out with locals to more pricy ‘special occasion’ venues—and everything in between. Most are located in the two distinct parts of the town: the streets of the old town that radiate out from the castle and those of the ‘new’ town that lead off from the main Rossio Marquês de Pombal square.
If you are registered as a resident in Portugal, then you are eligible for a Número Utente, which gives you access to all public health services and should be shown when visiting the health centre, for diagnostic tests and therapy, and also used at the pharmacy when purchasing prescription medications.
In Estremoz, getting your Número Utente it is a pretty straight-forward procedure. You simply go to the Centro de Saude from 9:00 to 13:00hrs and 14:00 to 17:30hrs, Monday to Friday, with the required documentation.
Before purchasing a property, car or anything else when moving to Portugal, the first thing we needed to address was opening a bank account in Estremoz town centre.
To carry out any kind of transaction in Portugal you will need a Numero de Contribuinte (Número de Identificação Fiscal) or tax number.
