Alentejo wines connect purchases to experiences in the Alentejo region
Alentejo wines will gain a different presence in retail next month.
The initiative takes place between September 22nd and October 22nd and coincides with the Continente Wine Fair. For every €15 spent on wines from the region, the consumer gains access to a digital experience that always includes a chance to win an Alentejo winery experience. Possibilities include guided tastings, visits, and accommodations.
Alentejo wines bring product and origin closer together.
The digital component is one of the unique aspects of the promotion. Integrated into the Continente Card App, Continente.pt, and the chain's stores, the mechanism was specifically designed for Alentejo wines and seeks to add a territorial dimension to the purchase.
Instead of focusing all communication on the price or characteristics of each bottle, the campaign associates wine with the places where it originates. The proposal connects producers, landscape, gastronomy, and wine tourism, placing the territory as part of the identity that accompanies the product.
The scale of the Continente network helps to understand the potential scope of the initiative. According to the data released, around 85% of Portuguese families use the Continente Card, equivalent to approximately four million households. Among Continente.pt customers, 94% also shop in physical stores.
It is within this context that Alentejo wines begin to have a targeted communication strategy, not only aimed at regular consumers of the category, but also at profiles identified as potential buyers.
“This campaign represents a new way of bringing consumers closer to Alentejo wines, taking the experience far beyond the moment of purchase,” says Raquel Lopes, deputy marketing director of CVRA. The executive adds that the partnership allows them to reach “a very broad universe of consumers” and create, through gamification, a closer relationship with the category.
Alentejo wines in a major market.
The campaign emerges in a sector where modern distribution continues to represent a significant share of wine sales in Portugal. According to CVRA, this channel accounts for approximately half of national sales, both in volume and value.
In the case of Alentejo wines, the strategy for the domestic market involves maintaining volume, but also enhancing the category and improving the average price. Participation in the Continente Wine Fair is part of the campaign "An Alentejo wine always goes down well," which will give greater visibility to the region at points of sale.
The Alentejo region holds a prominent position on the national stage. It leads in sales of certified wines, accounting for approximately 40% of the total value across 14 Portuguese wine regions. It has roughly 23,300 hectares of vineyards and exports about 30% of its production, primarily to Brazil, Switzerland, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Poland.
The identity of Alentejo wines is also based on a historical connection with the territory. Alentejo is one of only two regions in the world where Vinho de Talha (clay amphora wine) maintains a tradition of over two thousand years and was a pioneer in creating a regional sustainability program applied to vineyards and wineries.
By linking purchases to concrete experiences in the region, the campaign seeks to make Alentejo wines a point of contact with the Alentejo region and not just a consumer product. It's an approach that combines distribution, digital communication, and territory, testing the extent to which origin can gain greater weight in how wine is chosen and perceived.
Along this path, these wines emerge as a link between the purchase decision and a region that seeks to affirm wine also through the landscape, the people, and the experience that gives it context.