Portugal Diary

Anyone who has a taste for wines would not want to miss a wine tasting party or event.  Major airlines that serve only the finest wines on board have their catering departments sponsor regular wine tasting events, while just about all the major wineries in wine producing countries have them.  Apart from savoring the fine subtle aroma of exquisitely aged wines of various production years, wine tasting events offer ample opportunities for different folks of the same interests to meet and where new business partnerships and alliances can be forged.

For many wine connoisseurs and dilettante wine lovers on vacation, taking part in wine tasting events in the countries they visit never fail to enrich their holiday experience.  When having holidays in Europe and you have that urge to sample the wines of the continent, add Portugal to your itinerary.  You could have most of the wine tasting experience in France, but Portugal has a unique tradition of wine making that would put a deep hole in your wine tasting experience if you missed it.

Portuguese Wine Regions

Visiting Portugal for the wine lover won’t be complete without touring the many wine producing regions of the country.  Wine lovers know what a Port Wine is.  It’s short for the city of Porto from where the wines are shipped for export.  Genuine Port Wines come only from the wineries of the Douro Valley region of Portugal with wine exports to England dating back to 1679. The region is now protected as a World Heritage site by UNESCO.

Next comes the Vinho Verde from the Minho region which produces grapes that rarely require much ageing and are next to the Douro region in exporting wines.  Another notable variety produced in the region is the white wine Vinho Alvarinho.

One of its more popular wines is the Madeira wine that has a liqueurs quality and produced in the Setubal Peninsula of which the Madeira Island produces the most. Other wine making regions include the Alentejo and Ribatejo, each producing its distinct wine flavor and character and are tourist destinations on their own with their vast vineyards over rolling hills and plains.

One of the most expensive Portuguese wines are the Colares wines produced from the sandy regions outside of the capital Lisbon. They are located between the Sintra and Roca Cape foothills which, because of urbanization growth, have reduced much of the vineyards that resulted in demand exceeding production.  Hence, you have them highly priced.

(Before proceeding, if you have a stronger preference for other European languages, Portugal Web is translated in other languages including French.)