Portugal Travel

Port and Madeira, as the most famous, are far from the only Portuguese wines deserving attention.

Portuguese wines may be divided into two basic categories: vinho verde and vinho maduro. Vinhos maduros are made for aging and maturing in the bottle. Vinhos verdes, or "green wine" which demands less patience, are unique to Portugal.

From a province called Minho, in the northwest corner of Portugal, come these most distinctive wines. They can be either red or white, they are "green" only in figurative sense. A sparkle or light fizz in the wine, which can vary - depending upon age, technique and storage - from a light tingle on the tongue to a sprightly carbonation. This is the hallmark of vinhos verdes.

The Dão region, a mid-altitude area in central Portugal, is the primary producer of the country's vinhos maduros. The notation "Reserva" and "Garrafeira" usually mean far better wine at a mildly higher price.

In the Bairrada region, to the west of Dão, the bulk of the white is being used to make rather good sparkling wine, but the red is what deserves attention.

Colares, to the west of Lisbon, on the shores of the Atlantic, makes some of the most unusual red wine in the world. Vines are planted in the sand of the Atlantic shoreline through exceeding labour intensive methods.

Moscatel de Setúbal is a fabulous dessert wine. Grown in an area south of Lisbon, across the bridge on the Arrabida Peninsula, the wine takes its name after the nearby port of Setúbal.