Called "Today I offer," the campaign, released this week by the Comissão Vitivinícola Regional Alentejana (CVRA), aims to help wine producers and the food sector of the Alentejo region.

According to the wine commission, the participating restaurants will create a menu for the initiative every week, selecting "a dish from their menu and pairing it with a bottle of Alentejo wine from their menu".

"For each order on this special menu, a second bottle of wine will be offered by a wine producer in the region", said CVRA.

With the initiative, the organisation intends to "promote wine orders as part of home delivered meals to help to reduce the drop in wine sales at a national level".

"The fall of more than 50 percent in wine sales registered in 2020 was caused by the reduction of business activity in the restaurant and tourism sectors. Producers who are dependent on this sector for the sale of their products are now finding themselves in precarious financial situations,” stressed the CVRA.

The wine commission pointed out that, under the legislation in force, under the state of emergency decree, the sale of alcoholic beverages is prohibited from 8:00 pm, so orders within the campaign must be made before this time.

The Alentejo is a national leader in certified wines, with around 40 percent of the total sales value of all the 14 wine regions in Portugal.

With an area of 22,900 hectares of vines, 30 percent of the region's production is exported to five main destinations: Brazil, Angola, United States of America, Poland and China.

The Alentejo region - one of the two regions in the world that produce Talha Wine - has a pioneering initiative, the Alentejo Wine Sustainability Programme, which aims to improve the practices used in vineyards and wineries.

The producers and associated restaurants taking part in the new initiative can be found on the social media platforms of Vinhos do Alentejo.