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Portugal The climate in Portugal is ideal for wine grapes, but their greatest “wine”, is really port. Port was really conceived as an export wine to Britain and was “fortified” as a stabilizer to last the long ocean voyage. As a result, Portugal has not had to compromise their wine making toward “foreign” tastes and until recently has not been very specific with respect to labeling, blending or even bottling individual estate wines. Portugal is now most noted for robust, invigorating, tannic, and earthy red wines, rather than the Lancers and Mateus sweet rosés some of us grew up with. Their most distinctive contribution to the world of wine (other than port) is Vinho Verde (green wine), a fresh, slightly under-ripe wine which is either deep red or almost water-white in color.
| Primary Grapes: |
Touriga National, Touriga Francesa, Tinta Roriz, Tinto, Cão, Baga, Periquita, and Loureiro |
| Secondary Grapes: |
Alvarelhão, Espadeiro, Loureiro, Cabernet Sauvignon |
| Production: |
110 million gallons annually |
Primary Wine
Region(s): |
Alentejo (Southern), Bairrada, Dão, Douro, Lisbon, and Oporto |
| Premium Labels: |
Port: Cockburn, Croft, Dow’s, Graham’s, Taylor’s, Warre’s, Sandeman, and Fonseca Wine: Mateus, Lancers, Bucelas, Alianca |
| Best Values: |
Cõtto, Setúbal, Alianca, Garrafeira, Sogrape |
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