Museu do Vinho de Alcobaça

About the museum

The museum operates in the former Adega do Olival Fechado, built in 1874 by José Eduardo Raposo de Magalhães to produce JEM wines. In 1948 the complex was acquired by the Junta Nacional do Vinho (National Wine Board), which turned the winery into vertical industrial tanks for white and red wines.

In 1968, when some of the Board's warehouses closed, the collecting of material scattered among its regional delegations began. The work of the Board's delegate in Leiria, Manuel Augusto Paixão Marques, gave rise to a set of collections, which were enriched in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s and make this the most complete wine museum in the country.

The collection exceeds 10,000 pieces and covers oenology, ethnology, traditional technology, industrial archaeology and graphic, plastic and decorative arts, from the 17th century to the early 21st century. The route evokes viticulture and winemaking over time, the associated industries, the storage, distribution and consumption of wine, and preserves the memory of the Junta Nacional do Vinho and of the present-day Instituto da Vinha e do Vinho (Institute of Vine and Wine). The museum reopened, renovated, in June 2013.

Highlights

• 1874 winery with historic tanks and vats
• More than 10,000 pieces on viticulture and winemaking
• Memory of the Junta Nacional do Vinho, with information panels from the 1950s and 1960s
• Guided tours with wine tasting
• Jardim de Baco (Bacchus Garden)

Permanent exhibition

• Coleção permanente do Museu do Vinho – Route through the former wineries with more than 10,000 pieces on viticulture, winemaking, cooperage, bottling and wine consumption, and the heritage of the Junta Nacional do Vinho.

Operated by

Município de Alcobaça

Admission & discounts

Free admission: Visits without tasting are free on Sunday mornings.

The €4 ticket covers the visit without tasting. With wine tasting (Levadas or Montes), people over 65 pay €7.60 or €9.30, groups of 5 to 50 people pay €9 or €10.80, and people with a disability of 60% or more pay €5.10 or €6.80. On Sunday mornings the visit with tasting costs €6 or €8. Free admission for members and staff of APOM, ICOM, ICOMOS, IVV, AMPV, the Alcobaça Municipal Council and the Adega Cooperativa de Alcobaça (with tasting: €5.10 or €6.80). Regional product tastings are priced on request.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The collection is spread across several buildings and movement in a wheelchair is only partial; there are stairs between floors.

Kids & families

Children up to the age of 12 enter free; wine tasting is not permitted for under-18s.

Getting there & parking

The museum is on Rua de Leiria, in Olival Fechado, Alcobaça.

Amenities & dining

• Museum shop

Reception with shop and tavern.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit