We spent a memorable afternoon with Ricardo and Vera Leitão Machado at Herdade do Vale Feitoso, talking about water—their passion since they became stewards of this extraordinary 7,500-hectare sanctuary in 2022. Near the Spanish border, the estate once belonged to the Condes da Ponte, a noble family prominent in the 17th century, when Portugal fought to reclaim its independence from Spain.
From this untouched land springs Monfortinho, one of the purest waters on earth: rich in silica, low in minerals and sodium, and free of microplastics and man-made chemicals. Born at the Fonte Santa de Monfortinho, a natural thermal spring by the Erges River, the water begins its journey at the foot of the Penha Garcia Mountain. It then takes a century to cross the estate, seeping through countless layers of soil and rock.
Legends abound of miraculous cures in the Monfortinho thermal baths. Today, science lends credence to the local folklore: silica helps cleanse the body of aluminum, strengthens bones, skin, and hair, and even sharpens the senses of taste and smell.
Visiting Vale Feitoso is like going on a safari. Five hundred kilometers of dirt roads wind through the habitats of European bison, deer, wild horses, foxes, boars, partridges, vultures, eagles, and many other animals. Native breeds of sheep (Churra do Campo and Merina da Beira Baixa), once nearly extinct, are now thriving in the estate. There are no power lines, no paved roads. Silence reigns, broken only by the rustle of the wind.
Traces of ancient times are scattered across the land. The Romans mined gold here. The Templars later occupied the valley, a place worthy of guarding the Holy Grail.
Ricardo and Vera are determined to keep Vale Feitoso pristine and, above all, to safeguard the purity of its water—a resource as sacred as the Grail and more precious than gold.
Click here for the monfortinho Waters website.
