PORTUGEUSE WINE

READING BETWEEN THE WINES:

He pours a radiant nectar, two score and ten years old, that blushes in the glass to find itself so famous, and fills the whole room with the fragrance of southern grapes.
— Charles Dickens on Port Wine, Bleak House

It probably seems obvious, but many wine drinkers have no idea that the best Port wines in the world come from — yes, you guessed it — Portugal.

Back in the late 1600s during the high-profile French and British dispute and import lockdown, the British needed to fill their need for fine wine somehow. So they went to Portugal who didn’t really have a wine that would make the sea voyage. Portugal vintners started adding Brandy to the wines, so they would survive the trip. And that’s where the Port legacy began.

Today Portugal is still número um for Port production, and in the last year or so, their vintners have fashioned some notable red table wines. Another marvelous fortified called Madeira also leaves its mark in many wine circles.

MAJOR PORTUGEUSE WINE REGIONS

Portugal’s wine regions are scattered about the western European country’s coast (or shall I say ports?) and inland. The major appellations in Portugal are Douro, Vinhos Verde, Dão, and Bairrada.

THE GRAPES

Some of the top grapes of the Portuguese kind are as follows:

PORTUGUESE REDS:

Touriga Nacional

The high-end grape for whipping up supreme Ports, the Touriga Nacional has low yields making it often times rather costly. Its rich-colored wines are intensely fruity and tannic with velvety textures and great talents for aging.

Tinta Roriz

Called the Tempranillo in Spain, the Tinta Roriz is a must-have in most Port blends. From light-bodied wines to full-bodied, highly tannic wines, this grape enriches many with its black fruit overtones.

Touriga Francesa

Another Port blender grape, the Touriga Francesca brings accents of floral and red fruit to many Port wines.

Tinta Barroca

Tinta Barroca adores a cooler climate and brings larger yields and a soft touch of fragrance and cherry and plum overtones to Port blends.

Tinta Cão

The Tinta Cão is the somewhat sleepy Port grape in terms of production, structure, and alcohol levels. It graces Port wine blends with its wildflower aromas and bilberry flavors.

Azal

Mostly used in wines from the Vinho Verde region, the red Azal Tinto offers red fruit effects while the white Azal Branco lends citrus effects.

Espadeiro

The Espadeiro makes a nice young red wine in the Vinho Verde region and melds flavors and aromas of red berry and flowers.

Bastardo

Despite its less than desirable name, the Bastardo is found in many old vintages of Port wine. Known as the Trousseau in France and the Cabernet Gros in Australia, this grape contributes a full-bodied wine with sweet, date-like aromas.

Jaen

Mostly seen thriving in the Dão region, this grape has a newly discovered grape clone, Spain’s Mencía. It adds sweet fragrance and good balance to its wines.

Tinta Pinheira

The Tinta Pinheira can be found in the Dão region’s DOC wines. Its savory juices result in soft fruitful and aromatic wines.

Alfrocheiro Preto

A Portuguese original, the Alfrocheiro Preto is used to create bold-colored wines with spice and an anise or minty nose.

Baga

The Baga grape is greatly produced in the Barraida DOC and reduces into highly tannic wines that age beautifully. It is also widely reared for the special reserve “garrafeira” wines.

PORTUGUESE WHITES:

Malvasia Fina

The Malvasia Fina is one of the oldest white wine grape varieties, which delivers full-bodied dry to sweet wines with ripe nutty tones. In Portugal, this grape is most commonly blended with other white grapes to produce white Ports but also can been found in Douro table wines.

Gouveio

One of Malvasia Fina’s cohorts in the perfect Port blends, the Gouveio grape echoes medium-dry textures and pale apple overtones.

Viosinho and Donzelinho

The Viosinho and Donzelinho are two more of the grapes used with Malvasi Fina in making white Port wines.

Esgana Cão

Don’t let the translated name “dog strangler” swear you off this grape. It’s an important yet very acidic addition to white Port blends.

Alvarinho

This high-yielding grape offers wines with strong fruity essence and well-balanced flavors.

Borrado Das Moscas

This Portuguese white is produced in the Dão where its unsavory name means "fly droppings" (and that’s the clean version).

Rabo De Ovelha

The Rabo de Ovelha is another grape subjected to Portugal’s often unpleasant naming system — the translation is "ewe's tail." This high-yielding grape is grown all over Portugal.

HOW TO ORDER/BUY

When in Portugal, drink as the Portuguese drink. Now that would be easy if you could just decipher those labels. Those aspiring to get to know Portuguese wines ought to get familiar with the vinho de Portugeuse terminology. See the “Legal Quality Code” section below for the labeling requirements, but start here to get to know some of special terms for picking the perfect Port or Madeira wine.

Port designations, defined by aging and original grape varieties.

1. Bottle-Aged Port

• Vintage: Made from the best single-year vintages, aged 2 to 3 years in wood and then aged in the bottle for decades.

• Late Bottled Vintage (LBV): Port from a single vintage, aged 4 to 6 years in wood, then fined and filtered before going to the bottle.

• Single-Quinta: A mix of both tawny and vintage styles but from ONE vineyard, aged 2 to 3 years in wood and then aged in the bottle for decades.

2. Wood-Aged Port

• Crusted: A mix of several vintages, aged for 3 years in the cask before bottling.

• Colheita: Tawny from a single vintage, aged 7 years or longer in wood.

• Aged Tawny: Aged 10, 20, 30, and 40 years as labeled; price increases with age.

• Tawny: Aged for at least 6 years in the cask.

• Ruby: Aged less than 3 years.

3. White Port

Madeira designations, defined by original grape varieties and sweetness levels of the finished wine.

• Sercial: Pale, dry, light-bodied wine, aged at least 8 years.

• Verdelho: Tangy, medium-dry, medium-bodied wine.

• Bual (or Boal): Full-bodied, medium-sweet wine.

• Malmsey (or Malvasia): Full-bodied, fully sweet wine.

CHOOSING A PORTUGUESE WINE

Various Duoro Producers

Various Dão and Bairrada Producers

Various Madeira Producers

LEGAL QUALITY CODES

Portugal has specific laws in place to strictly control wine quality and ensure each wine’s origin, authenticity, and style. In fact, all Portuguese Port makers are required to use government-produced brandy to make their wines. These laws also standardize wine labels with regard to:

1. Country of Origin
2. Appellation of Origin
3. Quality Standard Classification

• Denominacao de Origem Controlada (DOC) – Appellation controllee; superior quality, only awarded to Riojas so far.

• Indicacao de Provenienca Reglamentada (IPR) – Wine of controlled origin.

• Vinho regional – Regional wine.

• Vinho de Mesa – Table wines.

4. Vintage
5. Name/address of producer/brand owner
6. Bottle content
7. Alcohol Content
8. Authenticity Seal

References

www.cellarnotes.net
www.epicurious.com
www.internationalrecipesonline.com
www.internetwineguide.com
www.intowine.com
www.madeirawineguide.com
www.twis.info
www.wine.about.com
www.winemag.com
www.winespectator.com
www.winexwired.com