Portugal

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Madeira

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Atlantic island belonging to Portugal, nearly 1,000 km /625 miles from the Portuguese mainland and 750 km off the coast of North Africa, now a DOC for fortified wines and a Vinho Regional for unfortified wines. Of these, the fortified Madeira, probably the world's most resilient and longest living wine, is much the most famous. The most planted variety by far is the red-skinned Tinta Negra Mole.

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Ribatejo

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DOC and vinho regional (known as Ribatejano) in central southern Portugal corresponding to the province of the same name on both sides of the river Tagus (Tejo) inland from the capital Lisbon. The best wines come from the less fertile soils away from the river and since the mid 1990s vineyards have increasingly been transferred from the flood plains. The Ribatejo was for many years the anonymous source of some of Portugal's best red wines, the garrafeiras aged for at least three years and sold under the name of a merchant rather than that of the region. Many of the larger estates are now making and marketing their own predominatly red wines from Castelão and Trincadeira alongside international varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah—and even a small amount of Pinot Noir. However white varieties still predominate in the Ribatejo with fernão pires still accounting for over 40 per cent of the vineyard area. The Ribatejo DOC is divided into six subregions: Almeirim, Cartaxo, Chamusca, Coruche, Santarém, and Tomar. Of these, Almeirim and Cartaxo, each dominated by a large co-operative winery, are the most important.

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Alentejo

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DOC and vinho regional (known as Vinho Regional Alentejano) in southern Portugal corresponding with a province of the same name. For centuries, the Alentejo's main link with wine was cork.

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Vinho Verde

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DOC in north west Portugal producing light, acidic, often slightly sparkling, and highly distinctive wine whose name means 'green wine', a reference to the youthful state in which it is customarily sold. It is produced in verdant countryside inland from the coast north and east of the city of oporto which is known as the Costa Verde or Green Coast

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Dão

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DOC wine region in north central portugal with the reputation of producing some of the country's best red wines. About 80 per cent of Dão wines are red, with Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Jaen, and Alfrocheiro Preto having been indentified as the region's leading varieties.

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Portguese areas that have maritime climate

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Estremadura

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Bairrada

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evolving DOC wine region in northern portugal. Bairrada is unusual in Portugal in that it is almost a one-grape region. Over 70 per cent of the wines are red, made principally from the baga vine.

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Colares

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exceptional but now minuscule doc wine region on the west coast of portugal just north of the capital Lisbon. These vineyards were spared from the phylloxera pest in the 19th century (thanks to their sandy composition) but look unlikely to survive today's commercial pressures. ramisco, the Colares vine, is probably the only vinifera grape variety never to have been grafted.

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Trás-os-Montes

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includes the northern half of the port wine region and, with a total of 69,000 ha/170,000 acres under vine, there are more vineyards here than in any other part of Portugal. yields are low, production is exceeded by that of both Estremadura and the Ribatejo. The high vineyards here, north of the douro valley, also supply wine for mateus Rosé and a number of imitative brands. Table (unfortified) wines from the Douro region, not entitled to the Douro doc because of the grape varieties used, are entitled to their own Vinho Regional: Trás-os-Montes—Terras Durienses. Three Trás-os-Montes regions have their own IPRs: Chaves, Valpaços, and Planalto-Mirandes.

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IPR

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Indicação de Proveniência Regulamentada, a second-tier designated wine region in portugal. are an approximate, if proportionately more significant, counterpart to the VDQS wines of France, with specified grape varieties, minimum alcohol content, and maximum yields.

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Cima Corgo

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Located further upstream from the Baixo Corgo, this region is centered on the town of Pinhão (municipality of Alijó). The summertime average temperature of the regions are a few degrees higher and rainfall is about 200 mm less. The grapes grown in this zone are considered of higher quality, being used in bottlings of vintage and Late Bottled Vintage Ports.

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Denominação de Origem Controlada

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name of a controlled appellation in portugal, which replaced the earlier Região Demarcarda when Portuguese wine laws were revised for european union entry. 25 DOCs currently.

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Carcavelos

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near Lisbon / small fortified wine region with DOC status in Portugal. The wine may be made from a blend of up to nine different red and white grapes. It is usually fermented dry and fortified with grape spirit up to an alcoholic strength of 18 to 20 per cent. A small amount of vinho abafado (fermenting grape must preserved by the addition of alcohol) is added after fermentation to sweeten the wine. Between three and five years' cask ageing give the wine a nutty character akin to a tawny port.

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Vila Nova de Gaia

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or Gaia New Town, cramped, cobbled suburb on the opposite side of the douro estuary from the Portuguese city of oporto where port is traditionally aged. From the waterfront, long, single-storey buildings called lodges rise in steps up the hillside. Under the clay-tiled roofs, shippers mature their stocks of port, as well as tasting, blending, bottling, and selling it. Until 1986, the law required that all port destined for export had to be shipped from within the strictly defined area of the Gaia entrepôt. Port may now be shipped from anywhere within the demarcated Douro region so that export markets are open to small firms, quintas, and co-operatives without premises in Vila Nova de Gaia.

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Setúbal

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port on the Sado estuary south of Lisbon, the capital of portugal, is also the name of a Portuguese fortified wine with its own doc region. The principal type of Moscatel is the so called Moscatel de Setúbal or Moscatel Graúdo (Muscat of Alexandria) but a tiny amount of pink skinned Moscatel Roxo is bottled separately as a varietal wine. To begin with, Setúbal is made in much the same way as many other sweet fortified wines, the fermentation being arrested with grape spirit. After vinification, however, pungent Muscat grape skins are left to macerate in the wine for five or six months, which imparts a taste of fresh dessert grapes and gives Setúbal its intense aroma and flavour. Most Setúbal is bottled after spending four or five years in large oak vats, by which time the wine has an amber-orange colour and a spicy, raisiny character.

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Oporto

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Portugal's recently much-modernized second city and the commercial centre, known in Portuguese as Porto, which gave its name to port. Grapes grown in the harsh conditions up river of Oporto in the douro valley would be crushed and vinified before being shipped to port shippers' lodges across the Douro from Oporto in the suburb known as vila nova de gaia. Oporto has long had a substantial population of British merchants, whose meeting place the factory house survives to this day. / The Portugieser red grape is sometimes known as Oporto in Romania.

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Porto

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Portugal's second city (Oporto in English) which has lent its name to port wine, Vinho do Porto.

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Douro

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Portuguese DOC named after the river which rises / most famous as the source of the fortified wine port, although the Douro DOC is increasingly well known for the production of unfortified table wine. From the Douro's 38,000 ha/93,900 acres of vines, just over half the region's production is made into port. / The grape varieties used in making Douro wines are similar to those used to produce port, with over 100 different varieties officially sanctioned by the IVDP. touriga nacional and Tinta Roriz (tempranillo) are widely accepted as the best for red wines, many of which share the ripe, spicy, tannic character of a young port. Gouveio, Malvasia Fina, Rabigato, and Viosinho are the favoured white grapes. Wines made from grape varieties (including Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Chardonnay) which are not authorized under the DOC may be designated under the local vinho regional, Trás-os-Montes-Terras Durienses.

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Soil in Douro Valley

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Pre-Cambrian schist and decomposed schist with outcroppings of granite and small areas of sand, clay, and quartz. / Soils acidic and low in magnesium, phosphorous, and potassium and require correction with lime and fertilizers

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Terras Durienses

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subregion of vinho regional Trás-os-Montes which corresponds to the Douro region. The most important red grapes are the indigenous varieties, especially castelão (here commonly nicknamed Periquita), which is used for red, rosé, and sparkling wines. muscat of alexandria (called Moscatel de Setúbal locally) is the most significant white variety, together with arinto, Fernão Pires, and esgana Cão. Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah have has also been grown successfully on the limestone Arrabida hills and producers are now experimenting with other indigenous grape varieties from the north of Portugal such as Touriga Franca and Touriga Nacional.

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Douro Superior

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The easternmost zone extending nearly to the Spanish border. This is the least cultivated region of Douro, due in part to the difficulties of navigating the river past the rapids of Cachão da Valeira. This is the most arid and warmest region of the Douro. The overall terrain is relatively flat with the potential for mechanization.

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Vinho de Mesa

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The lowest quality-level designation for Portuguese wine, indicating a simple table wine.

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Baixo Corgo

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The westernmost zone of Porto located downstream from the river Corgo, centered on the municipality of Peso da Régua. This region is the wettest Port production zone, receiving an average of 900 mm, and has the coolest average temperature of the three zones. The grapes grown here are used mainly for the production of inexpensive ruby and tawny Ports.

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vinho regional

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third tier of designated wine regions in Portugal roughly equivalent in status to the French vin de pays. Eight VR regions

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vinhas ao alto

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up and down vineyards in Portugal

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Terras do Sado

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vinho regional in southern portugal encompassing the setúbal peninsula between the Tagus and Sado estuaries and a section of the Atlantic coast

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Estremadura

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vinho regional in western Portugal sometimes known colloquially as Oeste (West) / produces more wine than any other part of Portugal. As many as 30 different varieties are officially permitted and, because of a tradition of making wine for distillation, white grapes outnumber red. The most promising wines come from the DOC of Alenquer, where, sheltered from the Atlantic by the Serra de Montejunto, a number of single estates produce good red and white wines from vineyards on the predominantly limestone soils. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, and Chardonny have made inroads here alongside the likes of Touriga Nacional and Tinta Roriz.

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Most important Northern production zones in Portugal

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Vinho Verde, Porto, Duoro, Terra Durienses, Tras-os-Montes

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adega

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Portuguese word for cellar or winery.

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Alcobaça

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IPR centred on monastic town of the same name in western Portugal. See Estremadura.

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Alenquer

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small, promising DOC in western Portugal. See estremadura.

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Algarve

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the southernmost province of Portugal. evidence of a long wine-making tradition in the Algarve, principally fortified wines. Four DOCs have been designated, centred on local co-operatives at Lagos, Portimão, Lagoa, and Tavira. The entire province has also been designated as a Vinho Regional. The climate and soils of the Algarve are generally thought to be better for citrus fruit and cork trees than vines.

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Almeirim

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"former ipr in central, southern Portugal dominated by a huge co-operative winery. Now a subregion of ribatejo.

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armazém

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Portuguese word literally meaning 'warehouse' or 'store'. In the towns of Vila Nova de Gaia (see oporto) and Funchal (see madeira), armazém are the long, low lodges where port and madeira are left to age.

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Arrábida

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former ipr in southern Portugal named after the Serra da Arrábida and now part of the Palmela DOC. See terras do sado.

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Arruda

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DOC in western Portugal with a large co-operative. See estremadura for more details.

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Azores

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archipelago in the Atlantic and an autonomous region of Portugal with three IPR regions. See Biscoitos, Pico, and Graciosa.

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Beira Interior

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large, diverse but sparsely planted DOC in central Portugal made up from the merger of three former IPRs which are now subregions. Castelo Rodrigo and Pinhel share many of the same characteristics with shallow granite-based soils and a harsh continental climate. To the south, Cova de Beira encompasses softer country on the leeward side of Portugal's highest mountain range, the Serra da Estrela. This is prime fruit growing country and has a terroir well suited to viticulture but in the mid 2000s there were few producers other than the local co-operatives.

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Beiras

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Vinho Regional covering most of central Portugal, embracing the DOCs of Dão and Bairrada and including declassified wine from these areas. This diverse region stretching from the Spanish border to the coast includes Portugal's highest mountain range, the Serra da Estrela, as well as the fertile coastal littoral. The region has three internal subdivisions: Terras de Sicó, Beira Litoral, and Beira Alta. A wide range of grape varieties are permitted including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc.

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Biscoitos

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IPR on the Azorean island of Terceira making small quantities of fortified wine from the Verdelho grape. Biscoitos is so called because volcanic stones in the soil resemble biscuits.

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Borba

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subregion of Alentejo in southern Portugal. It is also the name of a productive Spanish white grape grown in extremadura.

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branco

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Portuguese word meaning 'white'. Vinho branco is therefore white wine.

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Buçaco

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range of forested hills between dão and bairrada in central Portugal where the Palace Hotel bottles some of the country's most sought-after wines. For more details, see bairrada.

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Bucelas

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historic white wine, formerly spelt Bucellas, now a DOC, enjoying a revival of interest in its native Portugal. At one time it was fortified and it is thought to be Shakespeare's Charneco, mentioned in 2 Henry VI and named after one of the local villages. The Duke of Wellington popularized the wine in Britain following the Peninsular Wars and for a time Bucelas was widely sold and appreciated in Victorian Britain as Portuguese Hock. (This undoubtedly helped to perpetuate the story that the arinto grape, the main variety in Bucelas, was related to Germany's riesling, a theory that does not stand up to ampelographic scrutiny. Both Arinto and its aptly named partner esgana Cão, meaning 'dog strangler', share the ability to make acidic, dry white wine in a sub-Mediterranean climate.) After such an illustrious past, this tiny white wine denomination just north of Lisbon, Portugal's capital city (see map under portugal), had almost disappeared by the early 1980s, the production of Bucelas having been concentrated in the hands of a single firm who let standards slip. A number of new enterprises helped to revive an old tradition. One producer has gone further and is now making traditional method sparkling wine and late harvest Bucelas.

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Câmara de Lobos

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occasionally found on bottles of ancient madeira, is a wine district west of the capital Funchal on the south coast of the island associated with noble vine varieties and fine wine.

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Cartaxo

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doc in central southern Portugal. See ribatejo for more details of this subregion.

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Chamusca

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subregion of Ribatejo in central southern Portugal.

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Charneco

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Portuguese white wine, probably fortified, popular in England in the 16th and 17th centuries and mentioned by Shakespeare in 2 Henry VI. It is probably the forerunner of Bucelas.

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Chaves

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IPR in north east Portugal. See Trás-os-Montes.

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Cockburn

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port house which, in the second half of the 20th century, made the transition from bulk shipper to brand leader in the important British market.

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colheita

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Portuguese word meaning 'crop' or 'harvest' and, by extension, 'vintage'. It is also the name of a style of port or Madeira from a single year aged in wood for at least seven or five years respectively before bottling.

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Coruche

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subregion of Ribatejo in central, southern Portugal.

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Cossart Gordon

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the oldest company to trade in madeira wine.

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Cova de Beira

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large ipr region in central Portugal. Wines bearing the name are rarely seen on export markets. See beiras.

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Croft

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port and sherry shippers originally established as Phayre and Bradley in 1678.

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crust

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name for the sediment that forms in bottle-aged port, consisting of molecules that have become too heavy to stay in solution. Crusted port is a style of port created by British shippers in order to provide some of the qualities of vintage port in a shorter time, and therefore at a lower price.

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Douro bake

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traditional expression for the character imparted to wines, especially port, matured in the hot, dry climate of the douro valley (rather than the much cooler, damper atmosphere of vila nova de gaia, where port has traditionally been matured by the shippers).

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Dow

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important port shipper. See symingtons.

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Encostas d'Aire

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ipr on the slopes of the Serra d'Aire in western Portugal. See Estremadura.

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engarrafado

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Portuguese for bottled.

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Factory House

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handsome Georgian monument in Oporto, standing on land granted in 1806 in perpetuity 'from this day and forever to the consul of the British nation and his corporation and their successors', is a testament to the historic role of the British in the port wine trade.

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Ferreira

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one of the leading Portuguese port shippers, established in 1715. Dona Antónia Adelaide Ferreira, the grande dame of the douro valley, was perhaps one of the most dedicated personalities in the port industry in the latter half of the 19th century.

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Fonseca

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common Portuguese surname associated with two important but unrelated wine producers in portugal.

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garrafeira

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word used by winemakers, wine bottlers, and wine collectors in portugal meaning a 'private wine cellar' or 'reserve'.

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Madeira

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Atlantic island belonging to Portugal, nearly 1,000 km /625 miles from the Portuguese mainland and 750 km off the coast of North Africa, now a DOC for fortified wines and a Vinho Regional for unfortified wines. Of these, the fortified Madeira, probably the world's most resilient and longest living wine, is much the most famous. The most planted variety by far is the red-skinned Tinta Negra Mole.

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Ribatejo

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DOC and vinho regional (known as Ribatejano) in central southern Portugal corresponding to the province of the same name on both sides of the river Tagus (Tejo) inland from the capital Lisbon. The best wines come from the less fertile soils away from the river and since the mid 1990s vineyards have increasingly been transferred from the flood plains. The Ribatejo was for many years the anonymous source of some of Portugal's best red wines, the garrafeiras aged for at least three years and sold under the name of a merchant rather than that of the region. Many of the larger estates are now making and marketing their own predominatly red wines from Castelão and Trincadeira alongside international varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah—and even a small amount of Pinot Noir. However white varieties still predominate in the Ribatejo with fernão pires still accounting for over 40 per cent of the vineyard area. The Ribatejo DOC is divided into six subregions: Almeirim, Cartaxo, Chamusca, Coruche, Santarém, and Tomar. Of these, Almeirim and Cartaxo, each dominated by a large co-operative winery, are the most important.

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Alentejo

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DOC and vinho regional (known as Vinho Regional Alentejano) in southern Portugal corresponding with a province of the same name. For centuries, the Alentejo's main link with wine was cork.

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Vinho Verde

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DOC in north west Portugal producing light, acidic, often slightly sparkling, and highly distinctive wine whose name means 'green wine', a reference to the youthful state in which it is customarily sold. It is produced in verdant countryside inland from the coast north and east of the city of oporto which is known as the Costa Verde or Green Coast

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Dão

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DOC wine region in north central portugal with the reputation of producing some of the country's best red wines. About 80 per cent of Dão wines are red, with Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Jaen, and Alfrocheiro Preto having been indentified as the region's leading varieties.

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Portguese areas that have maritime climate

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Estremadura

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Bairrada

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evolving DOC wine region in northern portugal. Bairrada is unusual in Portugal in that it is almost a one-grape region. Over 70 per cent of the wines are red, made principally from the baga vine.

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Colares

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exceptional but now minuscule doc wine region on the west coast of portugal just north of the capital Lisbon. These vineyards were spared from the phylloxera pest in the 19th century (thanks to their sandy composition) but look unlikely to survive today's commercial pressures. ramisco, the Colares vine, is probably the only vinifera grape variety never to have been grafted.

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Trás-os-Montes

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includes the northern half of the port wine region and, with a total of 69,000 ha/170,000 acres under vine, there are more vineyards here than in any other part of Portugal. yields are low, production is exceeded by that of both Estremadura and the Ribatejo. The high vineyards here, north of the douro valley, also supply wine for mateus Rosé and a number of imitative brands. Table (unfortified) wines from the Douro region, not entitled to the Douro doc because of the grape varieties used, are entitled to their own Vinho Regional: Trás-os-Montes—Terras Durienses. Three Trás-os-Montes regions have their own IPRs: Chaves, Valpaços, and Planalto-Mirandes.

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IPR

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Indicação de Proveniência Regulamentada, a second-tier designated wine region in portugal. are an approximate, if proportionately more significant, counterpart to the VDQS wines of France, with specified grape varieties, minimum alcohol content, and maximum yields.

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Cima Corgo

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Located further upstream from the Baixo Corgo, this region is centered on the town of Pinhão (municipality of Alijó). The summertime average temperature of the regions are a few degrees higher and rainfall is about 200 mm less. The grapes grown in this zone are considered of higher quality, being used in bottlings of vintage and Late Bottled Vintage Ports.

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Denominação de Origem Controlada

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name of a controlled appellation in portugal, which replaced the earlier Região Demarcarda when Portuguese wine laws were revised for european union entry. 25 DOCs currently.

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Carcavelos

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near Lisbon / small fortified wine region with DOC status in Portugal. The wine may be made from a blend of up to nine different red and white grapes. It is usually fermented dry and fortified with grape spirit up to an alcoholic strength of 18 to 20 per cent. A small amount of vinho abafado (fermenting grape must preserved by the addition of alcohol) is added after fermentation to sweeten the wine. Between three and five years' cask ageing give the wine a nutty character akin to a tawny port.

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Vila Nova de Gaia

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or Gaia New Town, cramped, cobbled suburb on the opposite side of the douro estuary from the Portuguese city of oporto where port is traditionally aged. From the waterfront, long, single-storey buildings called lodges rise in steps up the hillside. Under the clay-tiled roofs, shippers mature their stocks of port, as well as tasting, blending, bottling, and selling it. Until 1986, the law required that all port destined for export had to be shipped from within the strictly defined area of the Gaia entrepôt. Port may now be shipped from anywhere within the demarcated Douro region so that export markets are open to small firms, quintas, and co-operatives without premises in Vila Nova de Gaia.

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Setúbal

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port on the Sado estuary south of Lisbon, the capital of portugal, is also the name of a Portuguese fortified wine with its own doc region. The principal type of Moscatel is the so called Moscatel de Setúbal or Moscatel Graúdo (Muscat of Alexandria) but a tiny amount of pink skinned Moscatel Roxo is bottled separately as a varietal wine. To begin with, Setúbal is made in much the same way as many other sweet fortified wines, the fermentation being arrested with grape spirit. After vinification, however, pungent Muscat grape skins are left to macerate in the wine for five or six months, which imparts a taste of fresh dessert grapes and gives Setúbal its intense aroma and flavour. Most Setúbal is bottled after spending four or five years in large oak vats, by which time the wine has an amber-orange colour and a spicy, raisiny character.

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Oporto

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Portugal's recently much-modernized second city and the commercial centre, known in Portuguese as Porto, which gave its name to port. Grapes grown in the harsh conditions up river of Oporto in the douro valley would be crushed and vinified before being shipped to port shippers' lodges across the Douro from Oporto in the suburb known as vila nova de gaia. Oporto has long had a substantial population of British merchants, whose meeting place the factory house survives to this day. / The Portugieser red grape is sometimes known as Oporto in Romania.

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Porto

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Portugal's second city (Oporto in English) which has lent its name to port wine, Vinho do Porto.

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Douro

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Portuguese DOC named after the river which rises / most famous as the source of the fortified wine port, although the Douro DOC is increasingly well known for the production of unfortified table wine. From the Douro's 38,000 ha/93,900 acres of vines, just over half the region's production is made into port. / The grape varieties used in making Douro wines are similar to those used to produce port, with over 100 different varieties officially sanctioned by the IVDP. touriga nacional and Tinta Roriz (tempranillo) are widely accepted as the best for red wines, many of which share the ripe, spicy, tannic character of a young port. Gouveio, Malvasia Fina, Rabigato, and Viosinho are the favoured white grapes. Wines made from grape varieties (including Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Chardonnay) which are not authorized under the DOC may be designated under the local vinho regional, Trás-os-Montes-Terras Durienses.

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Soil in Douro Valley

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Pre-Cambrian schist and decomposed schist with outcroppings of granite and small areas of sand, clay, and quartz. / Soils acidic and low in magnesium, phosphorous, and potassium and require correction with lime and fertilizers

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Terras Durienses

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subregion of vinho regional Trás-os-Montes which corresponds to the Douro region. The most important red grapes are the indigenous varieties, especially castelão (here commonly nicknamed Periquita), which is used for red, rosé, and sparkling wines. muscat of alexandria (called Moscatel de Setúbal locally) is the most significant white variety, together with arinto, Fernão Pires, and esgana Cão. Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah have has also been grown successfully on the limestone Arrabida hills and producers are now experimenting with other indigenous grape varieties from the north of Portugal such as Touriga Franca and Touriga Nacional.

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Douro Superior

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The easternmost zone extending nearly to the Spanish border. This is the least cultivated region of Douro, due in part to the difficulties of navigating the river past the rapids of Cachão da Valeira. This is the most arid and warmest region of the Douro. The overall terrain is relatively flat with the potential for mechanization.

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Vinho de Mesa

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The lowest quality-level designation for Portuguese wine, indicating a simple table wine.

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Baixo Corgo

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The westernmost zone of Porto located downstream from the river Corgo, centered on the municipality of Peso da Régua. This region is the wettest Port production zone, receiving an average of 900 mm, and has the coolest average temperature of the three zones. The grapes grown here are used mainly for the production of inexpensive ruby and tawny Ports.

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vinho regional

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third tier of designated wine regions in Portugal roughly equivalent in status to the French vin de pays. Eight VR regions

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vinhas ao alto

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up and down vineyards in Portugal

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Terras do Sado

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vinho regional in southern portugal encompassing the setúbal peninsula between the Tagus and Sado estuaries and a section of the Atlantic coast

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Estremadura

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vinho regional in western Portugal sometimes known colloquially as Oeste (West) / produces more wine than any other part of Portugal. As many as 30 different varieties are officially permitted and, because of a tradition of making wine for distillation, white grapes outnumber red. The most promising wines come from the DOC of Alenquer, where, sheltered from the Atlantic by the Serra de Montejunto, a number of single estates produce good red and white wines from vineyards on the predominantly limestone soils. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, and Chardonny have made inroads here alongside the likes of Touriga Nacional and Tinta Roriz.

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Most important Northern production zones in Portugal

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Vinho Verde, Porto, Duoro, Terra Durienses, Tras-os-Montes

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adega

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Portuguese word for cellar or winery.

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Alcobaça

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IPR centred on monastic town of the same name in western Portugal. See Estremadura.

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Alenquer

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small, promising DOC in western Portugal. See estremadura.

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Algarve

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the southernmost province of Portugal. evidence of a long wine-making tradition in the Algarve, principally fortified wines. Four DOCs have been designated, centred on local co-operatives at Lagos, Portimão, Lagoa, and Tavira. The entire province has also been designated as a Vinho Regional. The climate and soils of the Algarve are generally thought to be better for citrus fruit and cork trees than vines.

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Almeirim

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"former ipr in central, southern Portugal dominated by a huge co-operative winery. Now a subregion of ribatejo.

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armazém

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Portuguese word literally meaning 'warehouse' or 'store'. In the towns of Vila Nova de Gaia (see oporto) and Funchal (see madeira), armazém are the long, low lodges where port and madeira are left to age.

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Arrábida

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former ipr in southern Portugal named after the Serra da Arrábida and now part of the Palmela DOC. See terras do sado.

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Arruda

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DOC in western Portugal with a large co-operative. See estremadura for more details.

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Azores

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archipelago in the Atlantic and an autonomous region of Portugal with three IPR regions. See Biscoitos, Pico, and Graciosa.

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Beira Interior

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large, diverse but sparsely planted DOC in central Portugal made up from the merger of three former IPRs which are now subregions. Castelo Rodrigo and Pinhel share many of the same characteristics with shallow granite-based soils and a harsh continental climate. To the south, Cova de Beira encompasses softer country on the leeward side of Portugal's highest mountain range, the Serra da Estrela. This is prime fruit growing country and has a terroir well suited to viticulture but in the mid 2000s there were few producers other than the local co-operatives.

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Beiras

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Vinho Regional covering most of central Portugal, embracing the DOCs of Dão and Bairrada and including declassified wine from these areas. This diverse region stretching from the Spanish border to the coast includes Portugal's highest mountain range, the Serra da Estrela, as well as the fertile coastal littoral. The region has three internal subdivisions: Terras de Sicó, Beira Litoral, and Beira Alta. A wide range of grape varieties are permitted including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc.

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Biscoitos

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IPR on the Azorean island of Terceira making small quantities of fortified wine from the Verdelho grape. Biscoitos is so called because volcanic stones in the soil resemble biscuits.

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Borba

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subregion of Alentejo in southern Portugal. It is also the name of a productive Spanish white grape grown in extremadura.

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branco

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Portuguese word meaning 'white'. Vinho branco is therefore white wine.

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Buçaco

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range of forested hills between dão and bairrada in central Portugal where the Palace Hotel bottles some of the country's most sought-after wines. For more details, see bairrada.

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Bucelas

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historic white wine, formerly spelt Bucellas, now a DOC, enjoying a revival of interest in its native Portugal. At one time it was fortified and it is thought to be Shakespeare's Charneco, mentioned in 2 Henry VI and named after one of the local villages. The Duke of Wellington popularized the wine in Britain following the Peninsular Wars and for a time Bucelas was widely sold and appreciated in Victorian Britain as Portuguese Hock. (This undoubtedly helped to perpetuate the story that the arinto grape, the main variety in Bucelas, was related to Germany's riesling, a theory that does not stand up to ampelographic scrutiny. Both Arinto and its aptly named partner esgana Cão, meaning 'dog strangler', share the ability to make acidic, dry white wine in a sub-Mediterranean climate.) After such an illustrious past, this tiny white wine denomination just north of Lisbon, Portugal's capital city (see map under portugal), had almost disappeared by the early 1980s, the production of Bucelas having been concentrated in the hands of a single firm who let standards slip. A number of new enterprises helped to revive an old tradition. One producer has gone further and is now making traditional method sparkling wine and late harvest Bucelas.

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Câmara de Lobos

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occasionally found on bottles of ancient madeira, is a wine district west of the capital Funchal on the south coast of the island associated with noble vine varieties and fine wine.

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Cartaxo

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doc in central southern Portugal. See ribatejo for more details of this subregion.

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Chamusca

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subregion of Ribatejo in central southern Portugal.

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Charneco

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Portuguese white wine, probably fortified, popular in England in the 16th and 17th centuries and mentioned by Shakespeare in 2 Henry VI. It is probably the forerunner of Bucelas.

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Chaves

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IPR in north east Portugal. See Trás-os-Montes.

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Cockburn

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port house which, in the second half of the 20th century, made the transition from bulk shipper to brand leader in the important British market.

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colheita

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Portuguese word meaning 'crop' or 'harvest' and, by extension, 'vintage'. It is also the name of a style of port or Madeira from a single year aged in wood for at least seven or five years respectively before bottling.

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Coruche

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subregion of Ribatejo in central, southern Portugal.

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Cossart Gordon

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the oldest company to trade in madeira wine.

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Cova de Beira

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large ipr region in central Portugal. Wines bearing the name are rarely seen on export markets. See beiras.

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Croft

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port and sherry shippers originally established as Phayre and Bradley in 1678.

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crust

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name for the sediment that forms in bottle-aged port, consisting of molecules that have become too heavy to stay in solution. Crusted port is a style of port created by British shippers in order to provide some of the qualities of vintage port in a shorter time, and therefore at a lower price.

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Douro bake

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traditional expression for the character imparted to wines, especially port, matured in the hot, dry climate of the douro valley (rather than the much cooler, damper atmosphere of vila nova de gaia, where port has traditionally been matured by the shippers).

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Dow

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important port shipper. See symingtons.

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Encostas d'Aire

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ipr on the slopes of the Serra d'Aire in western Portugal. See Estremadura.

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engarrafado

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Portuguese for bottled.

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Factory House

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handsome Georgian monument in Oporto, standing on land granted in 1806 in perpetuity 'from this day and forever to the consul of the British nation and his corporation and their successors', is a testament to the historic role of the British in the port wine trade.

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Ferreira

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one of the leading Portuguese port shippers, established in 1715. Dona Antónia Adelaide Ferreira, the grande dame of the douro valley, was perhaps one of the most dedicated personalities in the port industry in the latter half of the 19th century.

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Fonseca

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common Portuguese surname associated with two important but unrelated wine producers in portugal.

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garrafeira

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word used by winemakers, wine bottlers, and wine collectors in portugal meaning a 'private wine cellar' or 'reserve'.