The Douro (“gold”) River that flows to the Atlantic Ocean in northern central Portugal, curving the valley through mountains and hills along its journey, is one of the most breathtaking areas in the world and a UNESCO declared “Human Cultural Heritage”. Port DOC, Portugal’s most important wine, has been produced in the Douro Valley for centuries. In recent years the region is an emerging star for high quality dry non-fortified Douro DOC wines. Welcome to Douro Valley!

​

Duoro Sub-regions & Port Kingdom

Duoro Valley wine region developed west to east. We follow the same trail, starting from the estuary in beautiful coastal Oporto, one of the largest cities of Portugal and its crowned wine capital. The area closest to Oporto is Baixo (“low”) Corgo, bordering the meeting point of the Corgo and Douro Rivers, south-east of Oporto. The micro-climate is cool and wet, due to the proximity to the Atlantic ocean. 

​

Continuing east, the central part is called Cima (“up”) Corgo. This is “Port Kingdom”, where vineyards grow on steep slopes, hanging onto the schist (coarse-grained metamorphic rock which consists of layers of different minerals) and granite terrain, where most Port wines originate, including the prestigious Vintage Ports. The microclimate is continental and the temperature differences between summer/winter, day/night are significant yet not as harsh as they are inland. 

​

Farther east, we reach the Douro Superiore (“upper”), the hottest and driest sub-region, where the river's moderating effect is hardly felt. Reaching Douro Superiore is a challenging task and when one finally arrives, the first thought is that viniculture would be impossible here. Yet, this is the most interesting up and coming sub-region, where several excellent top wines can be found.

 

Bordering Douro Superiore is Spain, where the river’s name changes into Duero, and we can reach Ribera del Duero. Thus, the same river enables two of the best wine regions in the Iberian Peninsula. 

​

History

The picturesque river is the life vein of the valley and its impact is critical. For centuries the river has been the main transportation route between the coast and deep inland, the source for water as well as a moderator of the harsh climate.

 

Vines have been growing in the area for 2,000 years, starting from the days of the Ancient Romans, who developed viniculture anywhere they reached. This continued during the Moors occupation period and expanded when the Christians finally prevailed over the Muslims - to our days.

 

Port History

Port is among the very few wines that have gained significant cultural and social meanings over the years. Although Port DOC wines can only be produced in the Douro Valley, they reflect an era, a culture and a society more than they reflect their terroir.

 

In the 17th century, as England was involved in economical, political and military conflicts with Spain and with France, it turned to Portugal for joint commercial interests and wines. Trade relations between England and Portugal strengthened and, as the popularity of French wines went down, up went the popularity of Portuguese wines. 

​

unfortunately, Portuguese wines at the time were simple, significantly less attractive than the French wines exported to England before the conflicts started. The reason was that although some 80 grape varieties grow in the Douro Valley, no particular attention was given to varieties, and the typical grower's philosophy consisted of multiple varieties “as they grow”. In addition, the journey from Portugal to England is longer than from France and often the already simple wines became faulty at sea.

 

The solution was to fortify the wines and to retain a high percentage of residual sugar - resulting in high-alcohol sweet wines that could age well, sustain barrel time, with complex aromas and character and improve with time. Port was born and named after Oporto, the worldwide shipping port of the wines, where the final phase of wine production took place.

 

This brilliantly practical solution proved to have even greater advantages. Following the ocean voyages of the great explorers and the discovery of all continents and islands and their treasures, the main maritime empires of the time (UK, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal) were expanding their interests, marking territories and continents on the map of the world.

 

Time at sea was long and fortified wines were a comforting “taste of home”, due to their sustainability compared to non-fortified wines. Port was becoming popular in England, the Netherlands and Portugal (and their territories and areas of influence, including North America which was a British colony at the time), as the trade horizons expanded. 

​

Gentlemen Clubs

Sea voyages and exploration were men’s domain, as were voting, being elected for office, smoking, and drinking wines. Port was the gentlemen’s drink and habit, a symbol of “men’s zone”. Multiple periodic books and films describe Port wines drunk in smoke-veiled “gentlemen only” clubs, in library rooms after the women had retired to more “delicate” occupations, in boarding school celebrations and, by the “lord of the mansion” drinking Port and smoking his pipe or cigar in the library after dinner.

 

This culture gradually faded with the arrival of more modern times, during the first half of the 20th century. Yet some of the symbolism remains, for example, like gifting a newborn with Port from the baby’s birth year, to be opened and drunk years later. To this day, Port DOC wines continue to be a popular traditional drink in England and in the US. 

 

The Port Journey

The vineyards in Cima Corgo are hanging onto the stone terraces on the steep slopes of the valley, just above the wide river, with different shades of green. As one rides the train or drives the narrow roads along the curves and turns of the river, passing through the “Quintas” (wineries) in the scattered farms, one is engulfed by the enchanting views revealed as the river unveils. The beauty, however, cannot obscure the challenge of growing vineyards under such conditions, the difficulty of hand-building the high stone terraces covering the rocky slopes, the persistence required for cultivating the vines, and the stubbornness of vines, sending their roots deep for minerals and nutrients.     

​

In this landscape, it was not practical to produce the wines in the vineyard. The grapes would be harvested, blended, crushed (by foot or by machine) and put in barrels by the grower. The barrels would be transported along the river (or later by land) to the large “Port Houses” in the area of Vila Nova de Gaia in Oporto.

 

The Port Houses received the juices from the various Quintas, and then blended them further and put in large oak barrels to continue their fermentation. After some sugar became alcohol, the wholesaler’s professional staff would fortify the wine to around 20% alcohol and fermentation would stop, leaving residual sugar in the wine. The wine would then be aged and bottled.

​

Port Styles

There are many different styles of Port, divided into two main categories depending on the style of ageing and bottling. These would determine whether the wine would be Tawny-style (long ageing and oxidizing in large oak barrels, then bottled) or Ruby (Vintage) Style (short barrel ageing, long bottle ageing, minimal initial oxidation).

​

Tawny Style Port is rich and complex, elegant and full of finesse. When the wine quality is high, it will be smooth and silky, with a rich color of brown sugar and flavors of toasted nuts, vanilla, sugar, caramel, dried fruits, figs, coffee and oak.

 

Ruby Style Port is dark red, dense, powerful and bold with red berry flavors, possibly cooked fruit, leather, wet leaves, and coffee as they age.

 

Single Vintage Ports are produced from the best grapes only when the vintages are exceptionally good and are considered premium. 

​

Varieties

Port wines are produced from a blend of black grape varieties. While aromas and flavors vary, all grapes are small, thick-skinned, and concentrated. Yields are low due to the harsh conditions.

​

The main red varieties: Touriga Nacional (high color, bold, dark grapes, high acidity, high tannins, aromatic, ages well, flavors of spices, pepper, licorice), Touriga Franca (rich, violet aromas, soft, adds finesse), Tinta Barroca, Tinto Cao and Tinta Roriz (medium acidity, medium tannins, strawberry flavors, called Tempranillo in Spain).

​

Modern Duoro Wines

For a long time, the grape varieties were not deeply studied because the wholesalers Port Houses monopolies were mainly interested in Port production, and individual varieties characteristics did not matter that much. While wineries did produce simple table wines, it was less economical to produce (and market) their own non-fortified wines.

​

A new chapter opened in the 1990s when Portugal joined the EEC (European Economic Community), the monopoly of the Port houses ended, and the Quintas started to produce their own wines.

​

Equally important - global preference has shifted towards dry non-fortified wines. Gradually, similar to the evolution in other wine regions, the emphasis has shifted to exploring the potential of local varieties, maximizing the expression and reflection of the variety, the uniqueness of its terroir and respecting the diversity of vintages. This enables more space to the producer's philosophy. 

​

The Douro Superiore sub-region is an emerging star, producing prestigious Douro DOC wines. These wines can be produced from an incredible abundance of 80 varieties. In practice, though, the main varieties are the same main dark grape varieties of the Port, in addition to Tinta Amarela and the Sousão.   

​

Although the area is almost entirely red wine area, there are also white Port wines as well as dry white wines.  

​

There are several large growers as well as thousands of small growers. The quality ranges from simple to high-end premium Douro DOC wines.

 

#Wine #Portugal #Port