Vale da Mata is the name of a small, old vineyard located in the foothills of Serra de Aire in Cortes. The parcel is just a few hectares and is situated on a steep terrain with rocky soil. The land is extremely hard to work and is cultivated manually, with winter pruning and green harvesting by hand. Protected to the north, it has good sunlight exposure throughout the day and is surrounded by olive trees, fig trees, walnuts and shrubs. Vale de Mata is associated with several sustainable programmes; it is a member of the FSC and grows all its grapes according to organic philosophies. The vines are trained according to the Cordon Royat method, and the grapes are manually harvested at optimum maturity.