Wines of Portugal
It is a good thing, when people think of Portugal’s wine, that they think of Port, one of the world’s truly great beverages. But it is not a good thing that that is all people think of when they think of Portuguese wine.
There is a second Portugal that makes wine—and has for much longer than Port has existed. It is the Portugal that excels in both red and white table wines.
Portugal is smaller than Kentucky, yet is 14th in world wine production. Like many European countries, hundreds of grape varieties (many native, such as jaén and periquita) grow on its rugged, sometimes steeply pitched, soil. In keeping with the country’s general growing conditions, Portuguese wines, by and large, are scrappy.
About 55 delimited wine regions exist, 40 of which are called denominação de origem controlada (denomination of controlled origin), similar in both legal structure and force to the French system of appellation contrôlée.
Photo by Andrea Cairone at unsplash,com
Regions
Of the many winemaking districts in Portugal, five are more important than the others:
- Minho (MEEN-yo): In the far northwest and an agriculturally rich area, Minho makes Portugal’s best-known white wine, Vinho Verde (VEEN-yo VAIR-day, literally “green wine”). This light, low alcohol, sometimes spritzy white is meant for quaffing—and soon after it is made.
The “green” refers not to the wine’s color, but to its youth and freshness. It is one of the best wines to choose to drink with a range of cooking. The foremost grape in Vinho Verde—among a possible 25—is alvarinho (al-vah-REEN-yo).
- Douro (DOE-oo-roe, the “oo” hardly pronounced): The Douro is home to Port and several of Port’s grapes (touriga nacional, tinta roriz and touriga francesa, among others) that also go into the making of dry red table wines, some of which are among the more noteworthy in the country.
- Dão (D + the sound of the vowels in “ounce”): Eighty percent of Dão wines are red—and their increasing quality has brought more and more international attention to the area. Wines may be made from more than 50 grapes, although the best are fashioned from touriga nacional, the premier Port grape. Dão is 30 miles south of the Douro.
- Bairrada (bye-RAH-dah, with a hard “r”): Located just west of the Dão in central Portugal, its main red grape is the juicy but acidic baga, which must make up at least 50% of any red blend. Most Portuguese sparkling wine is made here.
- Alentejo (ah-lain-TAY-hoe): This winemaking area covers nearly the whole of the southeastern portion of the country. In addition to olive oil, cereals and wine, it is home to about half the world’s supply of cork. Plush, fruity red wines dominate, made of grapes such as periquita (parakeet) or aragonez (the Tempranillo of Spain) and more.
Port
Port is the only wine to have been invented by mistake and political intrigue.
At war with the French in the late 1600s, the British turned to other sources to replace their beloved Bordeaux claret. One acceptable trading partner was Portugal. There, the British found a red wine from the Douro.
These first Ports were dry, acidic, harsh red wines made even rougher by a bucket of brandy in each cask, added to stabilize the wine for the journey by ship to Britain.
Later, in the early 1700s, shippers left some residual, unfermented sugar in the wine—and increased the amount of brandy added to each cask (about one part grape spirits to four parts new wine). The British took after these sorts of Port-like kids after candy, and Port as we know it was born.
The several varieties of Port—Vintage, Ruby, Tawny, Late-bottled Vintage, to name but four—can be confusing.
But looked at another way, only two types of Port exist—Ports of the wood and Ports of the glass, designations of where a Port largely ages and matures after it is made.
Ports of the glass are Ports that age chiefly in bottles, the most famous of which is Vintage Port, superlative wine from one single year that ages for decades in bottle. Vintage Ports are rare, expensive and account for a mere 3 percent of annual Port production. (The United States is the #1 importer of Vintage Port.)
Most other Ports are Ports of the wood. Before being bottled, they age in cask for a period of a few, or up to many, years.
Ruby Port, Tawny and Late-bottled Vintage are all Ports of the wood. Ruby Ports age about three years in cask; Tawnies age much longer, sometimes as long as 40 years. The older a Tawny is, generally, the more it costs.
Ports such as Late-bottled Vintage Port are from finer, individual harvests that mature for a brief time in cask and finish their aging in bottle. White Port is something like sherry and is enjoyed chilled, as an aperitif.
Interestingly, 40 percent of Port production is bought up by the French—not the English, as many would assume—and most of what the French buy is Ruby Port and young Tawnies. The French serve them chilled, as apéritifs.
Because it is both fortified and sweet, once opened, a bottle of Port lasts longer than normal table wine. A ruby or tawny can last two weeks to a month; a late-bottled vintage, about a week. Refrigeration helps.