1. MINHO Region - DOC Vinho Verde
Home of Vinho Verde, a light, fresh wine, whose style varies depending on the sub region: Alvarinho wines from Monção, for example, are rather dry and strong, while Loureiro wines from central Minho are aromatic and leave a fine fresh dram.
The landscape is intense and compelling: luscious green, rolling hills and repeatedly small vineyards arises from fog veils. The architecture blooms from the prevailing granite ground; forming gray and white images that characterizes settlements. Discovering Minho is to allow oneself to fly away through the palette of a painter, feel the freshness of the green and dream with the heat of the gold. Land of festivities and folklore, its wines proves to be a delicate work of filigree, vaporescense and mysterious, a real rejuvenation elixir.
Whether white or red wine, Vinho Verde must be drunk young, ideally within a year after being harvested, excepting Alvarinho wine which have some maturity potential (up until five years).
Most traditional Grapes Varieties of Minho
ALVARINHO (white)
An old grape variety of exceptional quality, deservedly famed for the varietals wines it is produced in the Minho region, specifically in the two sub regions of Monção and Melgaço. Alvarinho has a highly characteristic floral and fruity profile with notes of lime tree, balm mint, honeysuckle, peach, grapefruit and apple, all well-married with the high acidity typical of crisp white wines from north-west Portugal. The grapes yield balanced wines with good structure and alcohol levels. Alvarinho’s qualities are being “exported” to more southern wine regions such as the Setubal Peninsula and Estremadura.
LOUREIRO (white)
Grown mainly in the upper Minho region along the River Lima valley, Loureiro is a very old grape variety yet is largely responsible for the success of white vinho verde in recent years. Aromatically exuberant, Loureiro (along with Moscatel) is considered the most perfumed of Portuguese grapes, evoking bay leaf, lime tree, acacia, orange and peach. Along with Alvarinho, Loureiro is a grape of great typicity, producing varietal wines as well as in blends. In blends with other regional grapes, its exceptional aromatic qualities construct some of the best white wines in Portugal.
2. Trás-os-Montes – DOC Douro and Porto
Trás-os-Montes is probably the most traditional viticulture area of Portugal. Its name means behind the mountains and is a forceful and rugged landscape. From the top of a belvedere or from a mountain pinnacle, Douro region, adopted by UNESCO as a World Heritage Cultural Landscape, arouses feelings and emotions that poets, writers and artists over time have, in vain, tried to immortalize in words or in coloured brushstrokes. Since ancestral times, duriense man was forced by necessity to invent its own survival; with its arms strength shaped the secular landscape and the poor and rough soil, turning it in endless suspended gardens that today produce one of the most world famous nectars.
Although Port wine is its most famous product, wine connoisseurs find red and white wines produced here equally fascinating. The region dry and hot summers combined with its barren and rocky soil restrict production to small quantities, but of high quality. The reds are dense, with intense notes of blackberry, and everything that a young Port wine has can be found. A red wine from Douro is an invitation to the sublimation of pleasures.
Most traditional Grapes Varieties of Douro
ARAGONÊS / TINTA RORIZ (red)
Tinta Roriz is a very fine variety of extraordinary quality, attested by its presence in two legendary wines produced on the Iberian Peninsula: the Portuguese Barca Velha and the Spanish Vega Sicilia. This grape has also been grown for centuries in the Alentejo, but under the name of Aragonês. In good years it produces full-bodied, inky and highly aromatic wines. The grape has fine and delicate aromas of pepper and berries. Aragonês has high yields and is indispensable in the blend of a good Port. Varietal red wines are also showing good results, particularly in the Dão region.
TOURIGA FRANCA (red)
Better known as Touriga Francesa, this is the most widely grown grape for in the region that produces Douro wines and Port. Growers love Touriga Franca as it is easy to cultivate, hardy and can produce good yields. Touriga Franca shows delicate yet intense aromas with notes of blackberry fruit and flowers, combined with good body and colour. It is one of the principal varieties used in Port blends, along with other indigenous Douro varieties like Tinta Roriz and Touriga Nacional. Yet it can stand alone, having proved itself in a number of varietal wines.
TOURIGA NACIONAL (red)
For more information please see under Beiras’ Grapes Varieties.
3. Beiras – DOC Dão, Bairrada, Beira Interior and Távora-Varosa
Regional wines from Beiras (sub regions of Beira Litoral, Beira Alta and Beira Baixa) are very individual ones. Different grapes varieties are the distinctive trace of this region, giving winemakers an unusual creative freedom. Sometimes there are also outstanding experimental wines from Baga, a typical and tanning grape with intense fruit flavour, very complex and with a great ageing potential. Very famous is the champagne, with its typical limestone deposits.
Beiras’ landscape is very attractive: gentle rolling hills and large number of small villages hidden between the forests. Granite and shale formations, barren soil, and a large number of individual farms bring out unexpected wines: red wines with expressive fruit, accompanied by an earthy and vegetative touch. The white wines are, in general, rather fruity.
Most traditional Grapes Varieties of Beiras
ENCRUZADO (white)
Regarded by many winemakers as one of the great Portuguese varieties, Encruzado is capable of producing excellent white wines. It is grown almost exclusively in the Dão and requires particular care and attention to extract its finest aromas. If well-treated the resulting wines are elegant and complex with aromatic mineral notes and green peppers, roses, violets and citrus fruit. Age confers aromas and flavours of hazelnut and resin and when fermented in oak, vanilla comes to the fore with good integration and unctuousness on the palate. Encruzado’s quality confers longevity to its wines, which can age well for decades.
BAGA (red)
One of the highest yielding Portuguese grapes varieties, spread throughout the country but most concentrated in Bairrada and Dão. The grapes come into their own when well ripe, showing wines of deep colour and great structure, with powerful tannins and everything in place to evolve well in the bottle. The aroma starts out with berry fruit developing into purple plum, tobacco and coffee, finishing in a crescendo of complexity.
TOURIGA NACIONAL (red)
In days gone by Touriga Nacional was the dominant variety in the Dão region, responsible almost single-handedly for the fame of Dão wines. Nowadays it is one of the most popular varieties in the Douro and is considered one of Portugal’s finest grapes. Touriga Nacional yields inky, full-bodied, powerful wines with exceptional aromas. It frequently shows blackberry, blueberry, rock rose and rosemary notes. Its renown has caused its spread throughout all regions from the northernmost corners and down to the Algarve, and it is even exciting the interest of vine growers abroad. Touriga Nacional wines age well and gain aromatic complexity with barrel ageing.
4. Estremadura – DOC Alenquer, Arruda, Bucelas, Carcavelos, Colares, Lourinhã, Óbidos and Torres Novas
In temperate climate of north-west Lisbon, international grapes varieties thrive as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, alongside with some domestic varieties.
The red wines from Alenquer are among the best in the region. The vineyards here are influenced by the Atlantic climate and simultaneously well protected against the coastal fogs. Therefore, grapes can fully mature and wines can be quite concentrated and powerful ones.
In Estremadura is Bucelas, one of the oldest Portuguese appellations, in whose micro-climate Arinto grape thrives best, essential to the production of top quality white wines.
Most traditional Grapes Variety of Estremadura
ARINTO / PEDERNÃ (white)
One of Portugal’s oldest indigenous varieties, with a long tradition in the Bucelas region, it has now spread to most wine regions given its adaptability to different terrains and climates. Arinto, known as Pedernã in Minho, holds good acidity as one of its key features combined with structure and a velvety feel. Its aroma is relatively discreet, whose strongest notes are mineral, with green apple and lemon. Arinto yields wines that evolve very well in bottle, acquiring elegance and complexity.
5. Ribatejo – DOC Ribatejo
The landscape of Ribatejo is inspired in the vineyard area that surrounds Vienna. This fertile land on the vast and lush plains of the Tagus River is, today, most appreciate by young ambitious and passionate winemakers, perhaps even radical ones, whose wines are excellent and have a fantastic price performance ratio.
Unlike the northern neighbouring areas, farms are especially large in Ribatejo. However, wine-growing agricultural still plays a subordinate role in this region economy.
Most traditional Grapes Variety of Ribatejo
Another of Portugal’s oldest varieties and by far one of the most cultivated. It is found in virtually all winegrowing regions, being strongest in Ribatejo and Bairrada, where it is known as Maria Gomes. A high-yield vine, Fernão Pires comes under criticism for producing one-dimensional wines lacking in acidity and prone to oxidation. But attentive care can bring out its extraordinary aromas and capacity to produce distinctive wines with strong character. It shows ripe citrus aromas and notes of mimosa, lime and orange tree, putting it in the family of aromatic grapes with Alvarinho, Loureiro and Moscatel.
6. Setúbal Peninsula – DOC Palmela and Setúbal
Setúbal Peninsula is home of two magnificent regional wines, Terras do Sado and Palmela, like Moscatel de Setubal, a sweet wine. This land which lies between the Atlantic Ocean and two rivers, the great Tagus and the Sado, once lived solely of the fishing. Today, viticulture and tourism are the major sources of income. Here deeply rooted on the sandy ground flourishes the Castelão grapes variety, producing wines whose aromas made us remember raspberries and red currants.
Most traditional Grapes Variety of Setúbal Peninsula
CASTELÃO (red)
It is the most widely grown red grape variety in Portugal. It is highly adaptable to different climate conditions and its remarkable versatility enables winemakers to make distinctive wines – powerful and intense reds for lengthy cellaring. It has adapted best to the Setubal Peninsula, where it makes meaty and intense wines with aromas of red berries and forest flowers that integrate well with the wood of French oak.
7. Alentejo – DOC Alentejo
No region in Portugal is alike Alentejo. Space, time and heat assume other dimension. The monotony of wide open plains covered by old cork and olive trees is occasionally interrupted by a Monte, one of those typical gentle hills, with some small white houses, or even a whole village, which immediately bring to our memory the image of a nest of storks challenging the horizon.
The Alentejo region has been the pioneer of Portuguese wine revolution. Here, the modern methods were tested and developed long before than in the other regions. Soon worldwide oenologists became aware of Alentejo´s excellence in wines. The best known are the reds, generally heavy wines, full-bodied and with a remarkable maturity potential. Above all, white wines are synonymous of modern technology, thanks to achieved temperature control and the adopted fermentation techniques.
The Alentejo DOC is divided into eight sub regions: Portalegre, Borba, Redondo, Vidigueira, Reguengos, Granja-Amareleja, Moura and Évora.
Most traditional Grapes Varieties of Alentejo
TRINCADEIRA / TINTA AMARELA (red)
One of the most widespread Portuguese grape varieties. It shows best, however, in hot, dry and very bright areas, tailor-made, in fact, for the Alentejo. It is not easy to grow, however, having irregular yields and prone to disastrous moulds. But in good years Trincadeira will produce great wines. It has excellent acidity, soft tannins and abundant, intense aroma of plum and blackberry, producing elegant and balanced wines. A Trincadeira blend with Aragonês in the Alentejo or Touriga Nacional in the Douro will result in top quality wines.
ARAGONÊS / TINTA RORIZ (red)
For more information, please see above Douro’ Grapes Varieties.
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