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Portugal: Portugal''s wine country

 

Life is good, but wine is better.

--Fernando Pessoa, (1988-1935)

 

Portugal is now one of the world’s top wine producers, ranked 8th in the world and accounting for 4 percent of the global wine market. Eight percent of Portugal’s mainland is dedicated to vineyards. The only parts of Portugal that cannot support viticulture are its highest mountain peaks.

 

Come for the harvest, or visit the vineyards anytime

Fall in Portugal brings a buzz of activity to the various wine regions across the country, from picking and processing the Grapes to celebrating the harvest with food, song and traditional festivals.

From the plains of the Alentejo towards the south, to the more northern valleys of the Dão and Douro Rivers, each harvest and the local celebration that goes with it has a unique flavor.

During September and October, visitors can witness harvest and wine making techniques old and new at vineyards across the country. They can tour the vineyards and even help harvest or crush the grapes in some cases. Some wine estates, large and small, offer visitors a chance to stay onsite, with perhaps a wine tasting or a complete wine pairing dinner to end the day.

Throughout the country, vineyards sit among stunning landscapes and are easily toured by car or on bicycle. In the Minho region, the grapes used for the Vinho Verde wines grow on trellises. The vineyards of the Douro region run in a series of tiered, steep terraces. Throughout the September harvest, men can be seen walking the vineyards carrying baskets of grapes, while the women are helping and singing traditional songs as they work or celebrate.

Many of the wine routes in the middle of the country run through small towns, each brimming with history. Along the River Tejo, the Ribatejo wine region is full of fertile fields that get irrigated when the river bursts its banks.

Go where the grapes are grown: A snapshot of travel in Portugal

Portugal is the nearest European country to the United States. Travelers can fly from Boston to the Azores Islands, an autonomous region of Portugal, in just four hours. Lisbon, Portugal’s capital city, is Europe’s westernmost mainland city. Lisbon was founded 2,500 years ago by Ulysses, yet lately has been recognized for its “cool” factor—with hip restaurants, hot nightspots, trendy boutiques, stylish hotels and booming high-tech industries.

A few hours up the coast from Lisbon is historic Porto, the city that is known worldwide for the sweet Port wine produced in the Douro River Valley here.

Throughout Portugal are ancient cities and hilltop villages where today’s travelers can stay in Pousadas—a network of former monasteries, castles, fortresses and manor homes that have been turned into welcoming lodgings open to the public. Visitors can explore Roman ruins, palaces and castles, cork forests, olive groves, open fields and the sweeping peaks that mark the border with Spain.

Two popular resort towns, Estoril and Cascais on the Atlantic Coast, are popular tourist destinations. Portugal’s southernmost coast has an abundance of beaches and golf courses, and a year-round warm climate in which to take advantage of them.

In addition to its mainland, Portugal also has two archipelagos off its coast—the Azores Islands and Madeira. Madeira is made up of two main islands with warm, tropical climates. The Azores are nine remote islands that for centuries served as a stopping point for ships sailing the open seas. Each one of the islands has its own personality and culture.

Portugal’s long history of wine production

Exportation began with ancient Rome

Portugal is one the oldest and newest producers of wine in the world. This European nation has produced wine since ancient times, but it has also undergone nothing short of a revolution in the last decade. Billions have been invested to make Portugal’s wine industry one of the most modern in the world.

The great cultures of the ancient world—the Greeks and Carthaginians—first brought grape and wine production to the land that would eventually become known as Portugal. When it was part of the Roman Empire, Lusitania--as the Romans called Portugal--produced wine that was very popular back in the capital city of Rome. Grape cultivation on this land continued for centuries and the grapes themselves evolved. By 1758, the first designated wine-producing region in the world was created in the Douro Valley. The Port wines produced there ultimately became legendary.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Culture Organization (UNESCO) has designated the Douro Valley and the Pico Island Wine Region, in Portugal’s Azores Islands, as World Heritage sites, worthy of eternal conservation.

In 2006, the 250th anniversary of the demarcated Douro Valley region—the first in the world--was commemorated, a significant event since Port wine represented nearly 20 percent of all Portuguese wine exports for the past couple of centuries.

Madeira is the other best-known wine from Portugal, produced in the tropical climate of one of Portugal’s two island regions. Madeira wine was widely used by the original colonists of the United States, including President George Washington, who used it for their most ceremonial events.

Today, Port and Madeira wines are the oldest and best-known wines from Portugal, but they are far from the only offerings. The quality of Portugal’s wines is earning them new followers worldwide.

Over the past 20 years, Portugal has steadily invested in its wine making industry by adding modern equipment and careful cultivation practices that improve on techniques that reach back to before Roman times.

A closer look at Portugal’s wine regions

Portugal’s wine regions feature both small vineyards and large estates that have been producing for generations, some of them passed down within the same families. Both large and small estates are producing high quality wines.

Below is an overview Portugal’s three wine climates--Atlantic Wines, Mountain Wines and Plains Wines. A closer look would reveal many sub-regions within these climate zones. For this summary, we’ve used the three climates as our guide and highlighted some of the sub-regions within those climate zones.

THE ATLANTIC WINE REGION

The wines of the Atlantic Region are characterized by low alcohol content and high acidity. They are generally light, aromatic and floral, and should be drunk while they are still young.

Some chief varietals of this region include Verdelho in the Azores; Perrum in the Algarve; Arinto in the Lisbon area; Periquita in the Ribatejo area; Baga in Baireja and Alvarinho in the Vinho Verde area.

• The Douro River Valley

The Douro is home to Portugal’s famous Port wine, but it is also producing wonderful red and white table wines that rank among the best in the country. Its world-class reds are made of the same grapes as Port, but have a distinct depth and flavor. Here, vast estates are bottling their own wines, “designer” wineries have turned into inns, and even Organic wines are being produced in this region.

• Vinho Verde

Vinho Verde is Portugal''s largest wine region, accounting for about 20 percent of the annual harvest. The region follows the coast from just north of Porto to the Minho River. Vinho Verde wines have become very popular in the U.S. in the last few years. The name literally means "Green Wine", referring to the wine’s youthful freshness rather than its color. Most of the wines produced in this region are white.