Portugal is mostly known in the world for its production of fortified wines such
as Port and Madeira. Therefore wine production in Portugal is much more than
that. Generally speaking Portugal has the right climatic conditions to allow an
excellent grapes growth and in fact many of the Portuguese wines are remarkable
in quality. Portugal follows the guidelines of the rest of European countries in
terms of wine regulations and appelations. Portuguese appelations range from
Vinhos de Mesa(Table Wines), Vinhos Regionais(Regional Wines), IPR(Indicacao de Proveniencia Regulamentada) which is an equivalent of the French VDQS or Italian IGT, and finally the best appelation DOC(Denominacao de Origem Controlada) which is exactly the same as the Italian DOC. Portugal has several different wine-producing regions ranging North to South, along the coast and inside the country.
The most famous and important is without any doubt Port. The history of Port is closely related with England and Ocean. In fact, after the wars between England and France in the 17th Century, the English merchants started to import into their country Portuguese wines in order to avoid the heavy taxes which had been established on French wines. However, during their trip on the ocean, the wines spoiled frequently. As a remedy the English merchants started to add some Brandy to the barrels before beginning the trip in order to "fortify" the wine. In a little while the tecnique changed and improved. The Brandy was added directly into the wine before the fermentation was over and the result was what we today drink as a Port. Nowdays obviously the tecnique is slightly different and Port is made by adding to the wine a neutral grape spirit instead of Brandy. There are several different types of Port available in the market and everyone has some particular characteristics. The law allows to use more than 80 grape varieties to produce Port and some of them are white varieties. The different Port available are: Ruby, Vintage Character, Late Bottled Vintage, Vintage Port, Crusted Port, Single Quinta, Tawny Port, Colheitas, Aged Tawny and White Port. Another great and famous fortified wine from Portugal is Madeira. Madeira is an island located in the Atlantic Ocean near the coast of Africa. The history of Madeira is similar to the one of Port but the difference is substantial. The wine had to travel from Portugal to India and not just to the southern coast of England. For this reason the wine was subject to the same process of fortification but the travel was way longer. When the ships arrived to India the wine, instead of spoiled, was greater. The merchants, in order to stimulate the same conditions, started to "repeat" the trip back and forth before selling the wine. Finally in the 1800s was discovered a way to simulate the tough conditions of an ocean trip directly in the cellar. This system is called "Estufa" and basically consist in several hot-water pipes which heat up the storage house and cook the wine. Several grapes are used into the production of Madeira: Verdelho, Malvasia (Malmsey), Tinta Negra Mole, Bual and Sercial. The main variety is Tinta Negra Mole which has to represent at least the 85% of the total. Madeira is available with four diffrent labels according to the aging period: Finest (3 years), Reserve (5 years), Special Reserve (10 years), Extra Reserve (15 years). Other Portuguese fortified wines are the DOC Carcavelos made close to Lisbon basically with the same Port tecnique and Setubal, a fortified wine made in the Setubal Peninsula with Muscat grapes.
LABELS
Talking about quality labels, in Portugal, ranging from North to South, the most famous wine regions which have DOC appelations are: Vinho Verde, Douro Valley/Port, Bairrada, Dao, Bucelas, Colares, Carcavelos, Alentejo, Setubal, Algarve, Madeira. There is also a minor group in terms of importance: Oeste, Ribatejo, Palmela, Arrabida. Many indigenous grapes are used in Portugal for the production of wine together with few international grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay. By far the most important non-fortified wine is Vinho Verde. Vinho Verde can be red or white also if only the white is known worldwide. "Verde" refers to the fact that the wine is sold young. Often the whites have a greenish yellow color: for this reason most of the people related this fact with the name of the wine. Vinho Verde has always a good acidity and the white is usually very low in alcohol. Often, both red and white, are slightly sparkling and are very pleasant during the summer. Another good wine coming from the Douro Valley is Barca Velha. This red DOC is a complex, fruity and spicy wine which sometimes, according to the vintage, is aged for few years in casks.
