Douro & Porto Wines (219)

Douro and Porto - Winegrowing in a Wild Romantic Setting

The Douro and Porto wine region follows the river and its tributaries upstream to the Spanish border. The vineyards are located on steep slopes, where lush greenery alternates with black and brown slate. Join us in the Douro and Porto region, to spectacularly laid-out wine terraces and heavenly-sinful delights.

The Wine Styles in Douro and Porto

The few quintas (Portuguese for "wineries") in the Douro region manage nearly 40,000 hectares of vineyard area. About three-quarters of this is planted with varieties destined for Port wine. Since the late 1980s, the production of high-quality red and white wines in Portugal has increasingly gained importance.

The most important wine styles in Douro and Porto include

• Port wines, from young Ruby to the delicious Vintage Port to treasures like the 40 Years Old Taylor's Tawny Port
• Dry and complex red wines, often blends like the Domini Douro DOC from J.M. da Fonseca
• Dry mineral white wines, often with terroir-typical citrus notes, such as Fabelhaft Branco Douro DOC
• Local Vinhas Velhas with diverse aromas (see Interesting Facts) 

Terroir & Layout of the Vineyards

The Climate of the Douro Region

Three different climatic zones shape the Douro DOC. The western part, Baixo Corgo, extends up to 80 kilometers from the Atlantic. Here, predominantly cool, humid weather conditions favor light, relatively early ripening wines. In the heart of the Douro region, 200 to 800 meters above sea level, lies Cima Corgo, where numerous grape varieties thrive in a temperate climate and good Port wines find their home. Hot and dry in summer is the Douro Superior. The area in the east produces mainly full-bodied Vinho Tinto and excellent Ports.

The Soils

Bare, slate and granite-rich soils characterize the vineyard sites in the Douro Valley. The roots of the vines burrow along vertical rock fissures to impressive depths and transport the region's typical complex minerality into the grapes and vines. While lighter, brownish rock tends to host elegant, nuanced white wines, blue or black slate soils predominantly grow tannin-rich red wines. Slate is an ideal substrate for the production of good Port wines: at night, the dark rocky ground radiates the heat absorbed during the day back into the plants.

Legendary Wine Terraces

Many of the picturesque old vineyards in the heart of the Douro lie on impressively steep slopes. On terraced landscapes, sometimes only two meters wide, the vines stand in single or double rows. Carefully aligned slate walls secure the terraces and prevent soil erosion. The transformation of the inhospitable, rocky slopes of Alto Douro into a spectacular cultural landscape with countless wine terraces took centuries and earned the region a spot on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2001. Recently created vineyard terraces in other parts of the region are no longer secured by stone walls, but by earthen banks. The now common vertical planting with multi-row trellises allows space for tractor access and modern equipment management.

Which Grape Varieties Are Grown in the Douro Valley?

In Portugal, more than 500 indigenous grape varieties grow. About 340 of these are allowed for winemaking, and around 40 are permitted for Port wine production. 

The best red grape varieties from both DOCs are cultivated for both robust red wines and Port. They include:

• Touriga Nacional
• Touriga Franca
• Tinta Roriz 
• Sousão or Vinhão
• Tinta Barroca
• Tinto Cão

Of the white grape varieties, only a few are exclusively reserved for white wine production. The most famous are: 

• Donzelinho Branco
• Esgana Cão 
• Folgazão

Far more white grapes are used for both White Port and Vinho Branco. The most commonly found include:

• Malvasia Fina 
• Côdega
• Viosinho
• Gouveio
• Boal
• Arinto
• Cercial 
• Rabigato

The local typical blend of various grape varieties within a vineyard is mainly vinified by tradition-conscious small producers. Replanting with single varieties makes the work of the winemaker considerably easier, as he can carry out the necessary tasks in the vineyard uniformly without having to take into account the varying needs of individual grape varieties.

Interesting Facts About Douro and Porto

Since When Has Wine Been Grown in Douro?

The oldest traces of winemaking in the region can be traced back to Roman antiquity. Until well into the 17th century, low-quality red wine with dubious aging potential was produced on the slopes of the Douro Valley. That changed when the first delicious Port wines made a name for themselves. With a clever move, Prime Minister Marquês de Pombal declared the area of upper Douro as the Denominação de Origem Controlada for Port wine in 1756, thus creating the world's first wine region with a protected designation of origin. Until the 1980s, Portuguese winemaking focused on the production of the export hit. 

Why Is Port Wine Considered a Typical English Wine?

Who invented it? There can be disputes about details; however, British influence is unmistakable. Vinho de Lamego, a precursor of Port wine, was highly popular in the 13th century and soon captured the interest of English merchants. Portuguese fishermen were licensed to cast their nets directly off the British coast - on the condition that they delivered Vinho de Lamego. 400 years later, as the legend goes, clever Portuguese monks invented a “priest wine”. Because they did not like the usually fermented sour wine from the area, they came up with the idea of stopping the fermentation process by adding some alcohol early on. The fortified wine retained its residual sugar sweetness and was long-lasting even under poor hygienic conditions. However, British merchants claimed the same idea for themselves. Wine from Portugal often arrived undrinkable in England after a long sea voyage. The addition of brandy solved this problem and created a paradisiacal drink that English scholars famously enjoyed to warm themselves when they were freezing in unheated library rooms.

Where Does Port Wine Get Its Name?

The designation "Vinho do Porto" or "Port Wine" first appears in Portuguese-English customs documents from 1678. It was not the Porto DOC that gave its name to the wonderful sweet wine - it was the other way around. In the often impassable and hard-to-reach valleys of the Douro and its tributaries, there are still only a few wineries today. Grapes or locally produced base wines usually reach the wine town Vila Nova de Gaia at the mouth of the Douro via the river for further processing. The finished Port wine was shipped from Porto, the opposite port city, to England. Until well into the 20th century, the "Port wine from Porto" remained the only export wine from the country.

What Is Meant by "Vinhas Velhas"?

A wine from Germany or France labeled "Old Vines" or "Vielles Vignes" comes from vines that are at least 20 years old. In the Douro Valley, however, "Old Vines" or "Vinhas Velhas" refers to a traditional form of viticulture, where the type of varieties did not matter. Vinhas Velhas are cultivated in old vineyards where up to 40 mostly indigenous grape varieties grow intermixed. Especially in smaller vineyards, this so-called mixed planting can still be found today. Thanks to the old vines, internationally appreciated, unique and extremely terroir-driven "Cuvées" with intense, complex aromas are created.

Buy Douro and Porto Wines Online at VINELLO

Whether you have fallen in love with the "poetry in bottles," as wine expert Peter Lanberg calls the wonderfully warming Port wine, or whether you want to discover the trendy red and white wines from Douro and Porto: Browse through the virtual wine shelves of VINELLO and let our sommelier advice inspire you to exciting discoveries. We deliver quickly and safely. Felicidades!