WineRegionsOld WorldOther Old WorldPortugal
While Port remains Portugal's most highly regarded wine, the country
is quickly establishing a reputation for producing high-quality and value-priced
red table wines.
The Douro valley in northern Portugal, where Port is produced, is
also home to some of Portugal's best table wines, which are fruity and ripe.
It's Atlantic climate makes for micro climate somewhat similar to southern
Bordeaux. Unlike Bordeaux, the Douro has extended hillside plantings, more
like the northern Rhone. The coastal Douro, the Minho, is dominated
by the production of Vinho verde, "Green Wine." This refreshing
wine is often slightly effervescent and is meant to be drank young. Like
Spain, finer table wines, particularly those produced for export, tend to
be dominated by the large houses who have the buying power to control growing
quality. Traditionally many Portuguese table wines were subjected to extended
wood aging. This practice survives today in wines with the garrafeira
designation, which denotes extended aging in wood vats and in the bottle.
Many wineries have abandoned this style because of the deadening effect
it can have on fruit flavors, though many good to very good garrafeiras
are made. Selo de origem wines carry a government seal denoting wines from
the recognized Portuguese districts, but this unfortunately is not always
a guarantee of quality.
Besides the Douro, the Dão and Barirrada regions, midway
between the cities of Oporto and Lisbon, produces many quality table wines.
This region has benefited greatly from Portugal's 1986 entry into the Common
Market. Before that time, government control of several large cooperatives
in the region meant that quality was sacrificed for quantity. Growers were
paid for bringing in the biggest harvest possible, and that made for flat-tasting
wines. Now many of the region's wineries are replanting vineyards with an
eye to lower yields and higher quality, and are concentrating on a traditional
grape variety of the region, Touriga Nacional.
Some of the most reliable names among Portuguese table wines (all priced
for $10 and under) are: Caves Aliança Dão Reserva, Caves Dom
Teodisio, Alentejo Vinha do Monte, Terra de Lobos Ribatejo. Other well known
brand names and vitners of selo de origem wines are Sogrape, Real
Companhis Vinicola do Norte de Portugal, Jose´ Maria da Fonseca,
Borges & Irmão, Arealva, J. C. Alves, and J. F. Pinto Basto.