Geographic location and climate
The Douro is certainly one of the most beautiful wine regions in the world. Its landscapes of centuries-old terraced vineyards are classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The region follows the sinuous course of the Douro River from the Spanish border to the town of Mesão Frio, located about 100 kilometers from the port city of Porto. Of the approximately 40,000 hectares of Douro vineyards, more than half are located on slopes with an incline of over 30%..
The Douro is divided into three sub-regions: from west to east, Baixo Corgo, Cima Corgo and Douro Superior. The Lower Corgo is the most temperate and humid sub-region, with a slight oceanic influence. The Upper Corgo, around the city of Pinhão, represents the heart of the production of Port wines and the best dry wines of the region. The Douro Superior, the largest sub-region in terms of surface area, is characterized by a continental climate, very cold in winter and extremely hot in summer, with temperatures that can reach 113F.
A bit of History
It is still not clear today who among the Phoenicians, Greeks or Romans planted the vine in Portugal (then called Lusitania)… Nevertheless, it is known that the elaboration of red wine in the Douro region experienced a real boom at the end of the 17th century, when England, because of the blockade imposed by the France of Louis XIV, discovered the wines of the region and exported them in large quantities to its coasts. Very quickly, the English will transform it into the famous fortified wine that is Port. At that time, the wine could not stand the journey and was unfit for consumption because of the transport conditions. It was then decided to “mutate” the wine by adding brandy to it so that it could survive the long maritime transport. Port wine was born! Even today, the vast majority of the great Port wine producing companies belong to descendants of rich British merchant families.
When the Douro was granted a denomination of origin in 1982, almost half of the wines bottled were dry wines, but they were often produced from the worst plots. It was not until the early 2000s that the Douro, on the initiative of the major Port producers, saw the birth of a real wine revolution, with the development of specific terroirs and the production of high-end dry wines.
Grape Varieties
The Douro vineyard has long been characterized by the presence of a multitude of indigenous grape varieties (nearly fifty), planted and mixed on the same plots of vines (because they were all intended to be blended into port wines). In the 1970s, at the time of the Carnation Revolution, five red grape varieties were recommended for port production: touriga nacional, tinto cão, tinta roriz (or aragonez), tinta barroca and touriga franca. Today they constitute the vast majority of the vineyards in the Douro. Recently, Douro winemakers have begun to replant other red varieties such as sousão (or vinhão) and tinta amarela (or trincadeira). White varieties include gouveio, malvasia fina, moscatel, rabigato and viosinho..
Wineries Recommendations
Here is a list, of course not complete, of good producers and very good wines (in brackets):
Casa Ferreirinha (Quinta da Leda Tinto)
Niepoort (Redoma Reserva Branco : rabigato, códega, donzelinho, viosinho et arinto batuta ; Batuta : touriga franca, tinta roriz, rufete, malvazia preta and other grapes)
Prats & Symington (Chryseia : touriga nacional andtouriga franca)
Quinta da Poeira (Poeira Tinto)
Quinta da Romaneira (Tinto Reserva : touriga nacional and touriga franca)
Quinta de la Rosa (Douro Reserva : touriga nacional, touriga franca and tinta roriz)
Quinta do Crasto (Vinha Maria Teresa)
Quinta do Noval (Douro Touriga Nacional)
Quinta do Passadouro (Passadouro Reserva)
Quinta do Vale Meão (Douro Tinto : touriga nacional, touriga franca, tinta barroca and tinta roriz)
Quinta do Vallado (Adelaide Tinto : tinta roriz, tinta amarela, touriga Franca and other grapes)
For more information about Douro wines: http://www.winesofportugal.info/
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