Portuguese wines are arguably enjoying an increasing appreciation around the world and with good reason too. The country has produced wine for millenia and first began exporting its wines to Rome in the Roman Empire, with a range of regions with varying qualities and histories that make it one of the most fascinating wine traditions. While the country is perhaps most noted for its fortified wines port and Madeira, namely exported from Porto and Madeira, regions like the Douro Valley and Dão are becoming better known around the world.
Fortified Wines
Port
Port is a household name in the world of wine and has a long and interesting history behind it. It’s typically red, although white varieties are out there, with a sweet taste and rich, heavy texture, perfect as a dessert wine or with a rich cheese pairing. Although it’s classicications are much more complicated than this, in essence ruby port is the most common, being stored in stainless steel tanks to prevent oxidisation, while tawny port is stored in wooden barrels, leading to nuttier flavours and a loss of its bright ruby colour.
Port wine is produced in the Douro Valley region and following a commercial treaty between Portugal and England in 1703, it was exported from Porto – hence the name – to England. However, it spoiled during transit so aguardiente, or brandy, was added to it, creating the fortified wine we know and love today.
Madeira
Madeira is another famous fortified wine, which is produced, naturally, in Madeira. It ranges enormously in taste, from dry to sweet, and is known for its unique method of production where it’s heated, dating back to the days of the of discovery when Portuguese ships carrying the wine would get rather hot, making it a very durable wine.
Moscatel de Setúbal
This is another fortified wine, produced in the beautiful Setúbal peninuslar, just across the Tegus River from Lisbon. It’s a fortified Muscat wine, which is beautifully smooth and our personal favourite for Portuguese fortified wines. It has very raisiny and caramel flavours and is aged in wooden casks like tawny port.
Regions
Portugal has a great many wine-producing regions, all too many for us to sample and survive during our month there, and there is a lot of praise for the wines from other Portuguese regions such as the Azores. Nevertheless, here’s some interesting regions to investigate.
Douro
Not only is the Douro region in the northeast of Portugal famed for its production of port, this region’s non-fortified reds are well worth exploring during a trip to the mainland, while bold, rich and rather sweet flavours – I felt that there was a slight peppery elegance to them, but not at all over-powering or overly dry.
Dão
This region in the centre of Portugal mostly produces red blends – typically the Touriga Nacional variety, which is typically full-bodied and very fresh. However, its whites, especially the Encruzado, are fantastic, with crisp citrus and almost tropical flavours with beautiful floral aromas.
Alantejano
Historically, this region has been more noted for its cork than its wines, but more recently this hot, arid region in southern Portugal has garnered more attention for its table wines, using traditional grape varieties. Very smooth reds and crisp whites.
Green Wine
A trip to a Portuguese wine shop may have you confused when you make it past the white and red wines and into the greens. This isn’t green in the extraterrestrial sense but rather as in ‘young’ as young, typically white (although green reds, rosés and brandies do exist, grapes are used with the wine traditionally being efferfescent due to fermentation in the bottle. However, the effervescence is due to carbonation today in these wines. Typically light in taste and colour and low in alcohol percentage, these wines are normally produced in the far north of the country.
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