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Description

Demarcated in 1756, the Douro wine region contains 40,000 hectares of vines in the valley carved by the Douro River between Spain and Porto. Divided into three sub zones; Baixo Corgo, Cima Corgo and Douro Superior. In the past, production in the Douro focused on port, however, the recent trend is favoring the red table wines. More than 90 grapes are permitted in the making of Douro table wines. Touriga Nacional and Tinta Roriz are considered the best grapes for red table wines. Malvasia, Fina and Viosinho are the preferred white wine grapes. The Douro generally has hot, dry summers and very cold winters. Vintage Port, a fortified Portuguese wine, is the best known and most sought after type of port. Made from a mixture of red grapes, it is produced only in good years when conditions are favorable for the production of a fine wine. The decision to declare a vintage is made by each individual port house and all the grapes included come from top vineyards in that vintage. Vintage ports are aged in barrels for a maximum of two and half years and then require another 10 to 30 years in the bottle before they are ready. Since they are aged in barrels for only a short time, they retain their dark red color and full-bodied strong fruit flavor. Younger vintage ports remain exuberant and powerful, while the older varieties have more finesse and integration, a result of the slow maturation process. To maintain its intensity, Vintage Port is neither fined nor filtered and throws a great deal of sediment as it matures and must be decanted. The flagship style of port, Vintage Port represents only 2-3 % of the total Port production. (See PORT for more information on the region and fortification process.)

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