Uncorking Portugal
The first thing you need to know about wine in Portugal, is that the Portuguese keep the best stuff for themselves. That’s not just because they love good wine (although that, too), but because wine here often comes from small vineyards. Production is limited – often just enough for the domestic market, which is why you don’t find much Portuguese wine abroad. You really have to come to Portugal to try it, and at Terracotta Journeys we do that every night. Visitors to Portugal are always surprised by the enormous range and variety of vinhos that they never realized existed. And almost all of it is incredibly tasty. It’s hard to find a bad Portuguese wine; that’s one of the Top 10 perks of Portugal. At Terracotta Journeys, we delight in helping guests discover this rich treasure. Authentic Portuguese cuisine is perfectly complemented by local or regional wines, and toasting adventures together is the very best way to relax at the end of a day of exploring.
Sampling local wines is also a fantastic way to learn more about the areas we’re visiting – because the second thing you need to know about wine in Portugal, is not what type of grape it’s made from, but what part of the country it comes from. Portuguese wines are not categorized by grape type but by regions. Each region has typical varietals that shape its’ wines character, but Portuguese wines are for the most part not made from single varieties but blends. Many of the vine types are old natives, adapted to specific soils and conditions and largely unknown outside of Portugal; they would not be names someone coming from outside would find familiar. Getting to know the wine-producing areas, is a shortcut to finding wines you will enjoy – seeking out particular castas (grape varieties) will probably come later. The bonus is that this is an easy and agreeable way to really get to know Portugal. Every glass, influenced as it is by soil, climate, weather, culture and history, offers an opportunity to understand and deeply connect to these very special places.
A quick cheat sheet overview for newcomers:
♦ Pretty much every part of Portugal produces wine, but the largest and most famous are the Douro, Dão, Bairrada and Alentejo regions.
♦ There are many pockets of smaller but well-known and highly regarded regional production, such as Colares, near Lisbon, or Óbidos, the castle town a bit further north.
♦ The legendary and historic port wines come from Porto, of course, in the Douro. But the Douro does not only produce port…
♦ Vinho verde refers to green or new wine – slightly fizzy, low-alcohol wines – that come from the Minho (the northernmost strip across Portugal). The whites are the most well-known, but there are also rosé and red versions.
♦ Moscatel, a liqueurish sherry-like wine that is recently becoming fashionable in Portugal, is from Setúbal region, across the river from Lisbon. The Douro is also a DOP producer of Moscatel.
♦ Madeira wines, also fortified and named for their island province home, are not as well-known these days, but were probably the first Portuguese wines to become internationally revered.
All Terracotta Journeys walking, cycling and food & wine tours include wine at picnic lunches and dinners.
By Holly Blades