While Portugal is most famous for its Port, the fortified wine only begins to tell the story of Portuguese wine, with new interest in the country’s countless non-fortified offerings, both red and white.
Still, beyond Port, wines from Portugal remain a footnote on most restaurant wine lists. And that’s a shame because the availability of quality Portuguese wines here has soared since the time when, for most Americans, Portugal meant the cheap rosés of Mateus and Lancers and not much more (just ask your grandparents).
Portugal produces impressive wines from north to south, drawing on a winemaking legacy that goes back hundreds of years: The world’s first demarcated wine region was purportedly created in 1756 for Port production in the Douro Valley. (By comparison, France’s Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée system was only started in 1936). And Portugal is home to more than 250 native grape varieties.
“Diversity could be Portugal’s watchword, at least in terms of grapes,” Simon J. Wolff and Ryan Opaz write in “Foot Trodden: Portugal and the Wines That Time Forgot.” “Its vineyards teem with varieties that are rarely seen outside the country. The fashion for ripping them out in favour of Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay never took hold in Portugal as much as it did in other parts of Europe.”
On the list below, you won’t find a single Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc. Portuguese wines practically scream their authenticity and originality. And yet until recently, Portugal was largely overlooked. This week, I’m scratching the surface with a
