Portugal is traditionally a country of blended wines and from north to south, the great wines are made up of blends of the most emblematic grape varieties of each region.
The clearest example is the combination of Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca in the Douro and Aragonêz, Trincadeira and Alicante Bouschet in the Alentejo.
With centuries of experience in producing still wines, we are still discovering which grape varieties are best suited to each region and even, as a result of climate change, there are historical grape varieties from a certain region that migrate to other regions with completely different climates and soils. This is the case of the Alvarinho, the emblematic grape variety of the Vinho Verde region, which was tried out in the hot, dry climate of the Alentejo with great success.
Other varieties are transversal to any region because they adapt to all types of terroir. This is the case of the Touriga Nacional which, although it was born in the Dão, became popular in the Douro and is now present in all regions of Portugal.
To understand the grape varieties native to each region, the ideal is to look for single varietals and then we can taste the variety in its entirety, without the distractions of small percentages of other grape varieties, often used to clean up the wine, either to change the profile in terms of color, aromas or body.
From north to south we can identify the grape varieties that represent each wine region and which end up making up the majority of blended wines, often in very high percentages.
Alvarinho and Loureiro in Vinho Verde, Encruzado in Dão, Bical in Bairrada, Síria in Beiras, Arinto in Lisbon, Fernão Pires in Tejo and Antão Vaz in Alentejo are the most representative white grape varieties in each region, which have now spread to practically the whole country.
In the Douro, where white wine production is more recent, the region's emblematic grape variety is still being discovered and the signs point to Viosinho and Gouveio.
In terms of red varieties, Touriga Nacional, whether in the Dão or the Douro, is undoubtedly the most representative of each of these regions. Still in the Douro, Touriga Franca is dethroning Touriga Nacional, and in the Dão, land of great blended reds, Jaen (Mencia in Spain) and Alfrocheiro are native grape varieties that are present in any blend of a classic Dão red.
As for Bairrada, it's home to the Baga variety, which has adapted with great success to the Alentejo, even though it's native to an Atlantic-influenced area.
The Lisbon region has a profile of new world reds, where practically all grape varieties cohabit, whether from other regions or from abroad.
Along the River Tejo, whether it's the Setúbal region to the south or the Tejo to the north, the dominant grape variety is Castelão, known to many as Periquita because of the wine that made it famous.
In the Alentejo, the size of the region and the different terroirs make it difficult to identify the dominant grape varieties. If we look at high-end red wines, the presence of Alicante Bouschet and Trincadeira is fundamental, and obviously the Aragonêz, which will undoubtedly be the most used variety in reds of all price levels.
The Algarve, although a small wine-growing region, has its own native varieties, the Negra Mole for reds and the Crato Branco for whites.
It's a region with a long tradition of winemaking and practically all of its production is consumed in the region, but we'll talk about that later, with new releases already calling for the beach and the sun.
For now, take a look at our selection of new products in store, all single varietals and from the most representative grape varieties in each region of Portugal.
