White Grapes
The Alvarinho variety is one of the most noble Portuguese white grapes varieties. It is a very old variety with low production, planted mainly in the Monção and Melgaço area (green wine region).
Born through the crossing of the Petit Bouschet and Grenache grape varieties, when vinified, it emerges with firmness, tannins and a lot of color. It adds volume, structure, concentration and enormous aging capacity to wines. The Alvarinho grape provides wines with a high alcohol potential, fragrant and delicate, with different aromatic notes of peach, lemon, passion fruit, lychee, orange peel, jasmine, orange blossom and lemon balm.
Born through the crossing of the Petit Bouschet and Grenache grape varieties, when vinified, it emerges with firmness, tannins and a lot of color. It adds volume, structure, concentration and enormous aging capacity to wines.
It offers tense and vibrant wines, with high natural acidity and a markedly mineral profile, fresh wines with good aging potential. Aromatically discreet, it favors hints of green apple, lime and lemon, accompanied by a vegetal character and a pungent minerality. In very particular circumstances, it can acquire a tropical character, recalling the exoticism of the passion fruit.
It offers tense and vibrant wines, with high natural acidity and a markedly mineral profile, fresh wines with good aging potential. Aromatically discreet, it favors hints of green apple, lime and lemon, accompanied by a vegetal character and a pungent minerality. In very particular circumstances, it can acquire a tropical character, recalling the exoticism of the passion fruit.
One of the oldest Portuguese grape varieties and by far the most cultivated of the white varieties. It is spread across virtually all wine-growing regions, with greater protagonism in Ribatejo and Bairrada.
High productivity, as well as versatility, precocity and richness in aromatic compounds, help explain its popularity. As a rule, Fernão-Pires wines should be drunk young. It has ripe citrus aromas (orange) and notes of mimosa, lime tree and orange tree, forming part of the family of aromatic varieties such as Alvarinho, Loureiro and Moscatel.
It gives rise to wines with firm acidity and good alcohol content, full-bodied, with fresh and citrus aromas, with notes of peach and anise, with a good balance between acidity and sugar. Enjoys good conditions to present a good aging in the bottle.
The loureiro flower is one of the main aromatic descriptors of this variety, also characterized by its particularly crystalline floral personality, with an emphasis on orange blossom, acacia and linden. Apple and peach notes are relatively common in pure wines.
The wines, as a rule, announce honeyed symptoms, in the nose and mouth, vague notes of wax and nutmeg, combined with smoky sensations, even when the wine does not undergo any aging in wood. The wines are traditionally discreet, not very intense, reasonably fresh and moderately complex.
Of Douro origin, this variety extends throughout the Douro Superior. It has medium-sized bunches and small, yellowish-green berries.
The wines offer lively and well-balanced acidity, good alcoholic strengths, freshness and structure, characteristics that have elevated it to the status of a promising grape variety in the Douro. It offers aromatic notes of acacia and orange blossom, vegetal sensations and, traditionally, a cheeky minerality. In the mouth it has a scathing and penetrating acidity, capable of rejuvenating the whites of the Douro Superior.
It is an exciting variety in the primary aromas, offering lots of orange and lemon, hints of peach, melon, laurel and wildflowers. However, it has a tendency to oxidize quickly, losing its initial aromatic exuberance, forcing it to be consumed quickly.
Provides discreet aromas of peach, apricot, apple and ripe pear, accompanied by pleasant sensations of orange blossom.
It is on the islands of Madeira and the Azores that the caste actually thrives. It offers grapes with remarkable acidity and reasonable sugar, thus used for dry and fortified wines. Provides aromatic and balanced wines, presenting itself under the status of semi-dry wine.
It is a good quality variety and suitable for the production of still wine and port wine. Although not very aromatic, it offers an excellent balance between sugar and acidity, providing structured, full-bodied and alcohol-rich wines.
Red Grapes
It is in the Dão region that the Alfrocheiro variety finds its natural territory. Present in many of the region's wines, it is considered a high quality grape variety. The cultivation of this variety has successfully spread to the regions of Alentejo, Ribatejo and the Palmela area. It is a very fertile and vigorous variety, hence the need for its production to be controlled, so that the berries do not lose qualities, such as color. It is also important to control the harvest of this variety, as it matures early and is very susceptible to diseases, namely rot.
This variety produces wines with a very intense color and aromas reminiscent of wild flowers, ripe blackberries and spices. As a rule, it shapes wines with firm but delicate and structuring tannins.
Born through the crossing of the Petit Bouschet and Grenache grape varieties, when vinified, it emerges with firmness, tannins and a lot of color. It adds volume, structure, concentration and enormous aging capacity to wines.
One of the few to be planted and valued on both sides of the border, it is the Iberian grape variety par excellence. It is a very productive, vigorous and fruitful variety, with a tendency to have low acidity levels. If the vigor is controlled, it offers wines with elegance and robustness, abundant fruit and spices, in a deep and lively register.
Beloved for its versatility, resistance and poise, it offers wines of enormous longevity that age gracefully and safely. The wines have a deep color, good tannins, slight acidity and aromas of cassis, tomato leaves, spices and cedar wood.
It is in Dão that the caste is best expressed, and where it is best represented.
This variety, in addition to producing generously, is also an early maturing variety. It is very sensitive to mildew and rot. The wines produced from the Jaen variety are essentially characterized by their intense color, low acidity and intense aromas of blackberry, blueberry and cherry. Despite being a slightly rustic variety, it provides soft and silky wines, which round off quickly, simple but seductive wines.
The Rufete variety is essentially cultivated in the Douro and Dão regions, especially in the sub-regions of Pinhel, Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo and Cova da Beira.
It is a productive variety and its bunches and berries are of medium size. It is particularly sensitive to powdery mildew and mildew. If it reaches the ideal maturation time, it manages to produce full-bodied, aromatic wines capable of remaining in the bottle for many years.
Of the foreign varieties present on national soil, it is the variety that best adapted to the rigorous climate of the Alentejo.
Its berries are bluish-black, and it often consecrates full-bodied wines, rich in coloring matter, with high acidity and great longevity. Its varietal aromas are reminiscent of spices (black pepper), violets, wild fruits (blackcurrant, raspberry and blackberry).
It develops in a long vegetative cycle, providing wines rich in colour. Provides wines with a dense body and firm structure but, at the same time, elegant. As a rule, the wines suggest floral notes of roses, wild flowers, blackberries and cistus.
It is a noble variety and much appreciated in Portugal. The abundance of primary aromas is one of the hallmarks of the variety, presenting itself both floral and fruity, always intense and explosive.
Trincadeira is one of the varieties best adapted to the dryness and heat of the Alentejo. It gives body to aromatic and fruity wines, tending to be floral, sometimes with vegetable hints when maturation is poor, rich in color and acidity, slightly alcoholic and with good conditions to age well in the bottle.
It is the most cultivated red variety in the Vinho Verde region, offering wines with an intense color, garnet red, with a vinous aroma, where wild fruits (blackberry and raspberry) stand out, with an equally vinous, full-bodied and slightly astringent flavor.