Dynamic for the people

Dynamic for the people

Buckets of investment plus a transformed approach means that Portugal’s wine scene today is unrecognisable compared with that of 20 years ago. Charles Metcalfe introduces the new generation and highlights the regions – and grapes – to watch

What does Portugal mean to you? Port, Mateus Rosé and beaches? The undulating vineyards of the Douro and soaring monasteries? Or crisp roast suckling pig, gooey sheep’s cheese and 365 different ways to prepare salt cod?

Portugal is all these things. The joy of Portugal is its variety, and that’s just as true of Portuguese wines. There was a time when the only wines anyone outside Portugal had heard of were port and, yes, Mateus Rosé. There were a few who might have tasted the crisp whites of Vinho Verde, the then austere reds of Bairrada and Dão, the tangy wines of Madeira, and the powerful unfortified Douro wines. But the rest were strictly for Portuguese tables and glasses.

Time for change

And, frankly, a lot were pretty ordinary. There was a tasting of whites and rosés in London about 20 years ago, for the then young and go-ahead Wine Magazine, requested by João Henriques, the man charged with promoting Portuguese wines in the UK. We thought he was crazy, and rubbished most of the wines. Henriques was delighted. ‘It’s time the producers realised how bad their white and rosé wines are in an international context,’ he said. ‘They think these wines are good. I know better, but they don’t believe me.’

The Portuguese wine industry has listened to these criticisms and the picture has changed. Twenty years ago, there were only about half a dozen companies who controlled most of Portugal’s exports of good, unfortified wine, plus plenty of cooperatives founded in the 1950s struggling to make good wine, with some managing by dint of a handful of good winemaking consultants. There were very few successful independent companies making wines from grapes they had grown themselves. The only notable exception was in Vinho Verde country, where there was a lively association of independent estate-bottlers, several selling good, characterful wines.

Since then, the situation has worsened for the co-ops. Some have merged, one at least has gone bust, but as some struggle, a minority have progressed. And if co-op members are offered less money for their grapes, they are likely to start thinking about withdrawing membership and going it alone.

.20 years ago Portugal was mostly potential.

Now that potential has been realised

Imagine you have an estate which includes 50ha of vineyard. It’s only part of the total estate, so you’ve never thought it worth going to the expense of building a cellar and making (and marketing) your own wine. But you take care of your vineyards, and try to get the best out of them. As always, you deliver the grape crop to the local co-op.

Suddenly, the co-op pays you less. You see a few of your grower colleagues going it alone, and you wonder. Then, perhaps, a son or daughter graduates from university with a degree in agricultural management. He or she decides the return on the vineyards would be better if you stopped selling to the co-op and made an estate wine instead. All it needs is a bit of investment…

Welcome boost

And that is exactly what has come along for Portugal. With membership of the EU in the mid-1980s came lots of lovely EU money. It may have been a trickle rather than a flood, but the country has benefited enormously. Roads - for equipment, consultant winemakers, and eventually, wine lovers and tourists - new vineyards and wineries have all been subsidised by European taxpayers.

Inevitably, the clued-up big wine companies got the money first. Fine, they were already making good wines. Now they’re making even better stuff. But the money trickled down to the co-ops, too. That is what has helped those co-ops which have prospered. They got in a couple of vineyard specialists, insisted their members deliver decent grapes at vintage, and employed a consultant winemaker to guide the resident staff.

The investment has also helped build cellars and renew vineyards for the individual estates. There are small wineries all over the country, making good wines that were inconceivable 20 years ago.

The result has been a revolution. Twenty years ago, Portugal was mostly potential. Now the potential has been realised. With small, ambitious companies producing top-flight wines, the big companies have been forced to raise their game, too. Now they all own significant amounts of vineyard, so they can control the process from vine to bottle.

And the small independent operators are not just the ex-co-op suppliers but also successful businessmen who’d like a slice of wine-life – their own adega, with its boutique winery and expensive, single-estate wines. Be they doctors or property developers, it’s part of an appealing lifestyle, and they have invested as well.

Take for example, Joe Berardo. Originally from Madeira, and one of the wealthiest men in Portugal, he is the most significant single investor in the Portuguese wine industry to date. With significant shareholdings in banking, telecommunications and property, he bought a controlling interest in one of the large wine exporters in 1998 (renamed Bacalhôa Vinhos de Portugal in 2005), and has increased his investments in the last few years, buying a third of Sogrape, 60% of Caves Aliança and 20% of Henriques & Henriques. He obviously feels there’s considerable upside in the Portuguese wine industry.

.The first of Portugal’s USPs is its grapes.

The flavours of the best are exciting and different

Individuality in variety Portuguese wine certainly has USPs. First has to be its grape varieties (see box, right). The country has a range of grapes which are not planted anywhere else, many of which deserve wider distribution. Flavours of wines made from the best of these are exciting and, most importantly, different.

Another advantage is the variations in soil and climate (see box, left). Grapes are grown almost everywhere, in the sandy soils near the western coast, through the schistous rock of the Douro region, the chalky-clay of part of Bairrada and the rich alluvial earth next to the river Tagus (aka Tejo), to the granite heartland of the eastern side of the country.

Temperatures depend a lot on altitude. Down in the baking plains near Beja, it’s much hotter than at 500m or more towards the east of Dão, partway up the Serra da Estrela, the highest inland mountain in Portugal.

But these very grapes and places are also what hold Portugal back from developing a greater international reputation. Outside Portugal, they are little-known, and there’s work to be done on their promotion. Add these unfamiliar names to a country that has no strongly projected national image, and you can see that selling into export markets is not always easy.

But the thrill of discovering something of real quality, soon outweighs the fear of the unfamiliar. And that’s something that happens almost every time you open a Portuguese bottle.

Charles Metcalfe is co-author with Kathryn McWhirter of The Wine and Food Lover’s Guide to Portugal.

From north to south – Portugal’s key wine regions

There are 26 DOC regions, the top level of Portugal’s wine hierarchy, and four IPR regions, DOCs-in-waiting. Increasingly, wine producers are opting to use VR (vinho regional) on their labels. Like the French vin de pays, VR rules are more flexible, with more grapes varieties permitted. Running from north to south, the following are the ones to remember.

Vinho Verde Lush, green, damp, north-western corner of Portugal, with bright, high-acid whites (and aromatic Alvarinhos) and reds much appreciated by the locals but not seen much outside the region.

Trás-os-Montes Mountain and valley country in the north-east. Wonderful cherries and chestnuts, and a few high-tannin reds.

Douro One of the world’s great winescapes, as the river and its tributaries twist from the Spanish border to the Atlantic at Porto. The Douro vineyards, for port and the new generation of high-powered reds, stop just over halfway to the sea. Not all the wines are winners, but a high proportion of Portugal’s finest reds come from the Douro. Subtle, barrel-fermented whites are also made from old, high-altitude vines.

Bairrada The rules changed here in 2003 to allow a bewildering variety of grapes into the DOC, including Cabernet, Merlot, Syrah, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon et al. Why? Because the red Baga ripens only four years in 10, and dominated plantings. When the Baga is good, however, it’s very, very good. When it’s bad, it’s a Baga, if you know what I mean. Steely ageable whites, too, and a lot of perfectly agreeable fizz.

Dão Unsung region of pine forests, mountains (to the east), aromatic, refreshing reds and crisp whites. Most is hilly, and vineyards are often planted in forest clearings to shelter vines from
stiff winds. Some Touriga Nacional-dominated reds are the stars.

Beira Interior Between Spain and the towering Serra da Estrela, in a high-altitude valley, lies this region of fortified historic villages, sheep and undiscovered wines. Worth watching.

Estremadura Nine different DOCs, of which Colares and Carcavelos are almost dead. Liveliest are wind-swept inland Alenquer, for elegant reds, and hilly Bucelas, for bracing whites. Much of the rest is dominated by ailing co-ops.

Ribatejo The land along both sides of the river Tagus, famous for horse-studs and cattle farms, fruit and veg, and large quantities of easy-drinking reds. Best wines are made away from the most fertile soils right by the river.

Terras do Sado The Setúbal Peninsula and the land around it between the Tagus and the Sado rivers have two specialities: sweet, fortified Moscatel wines and elegant, Castelão-based reds grown in ancient sandy vineyards, sometimes Palmela DOC, more often Terras do Sado VR.

Alentejo It’s not all hot down south. Most of the rolling plains of the Alentejo, with their cork oak forests, black pigs, cereal crops and vineyards are very hot in summer, best for rich, generous reds. But in the north-eastern corner the reds have a mineral, refreshing edge.

Algarve Away from tourists and golfers there are plantations of avocados, citrus fruits and vines. Not many class acts yet, but a handful (led by Sir Cliff), making some quite elegant reds, cooled by maritime breezes.

Grapes of charm and character

The building blocks of Portuguese wine character are its native grapes. You won’t always find these as single varieties, they’re often blended. And the ‘international’ grapes (Cabernet, Merlot, Chardonnay etc) have quite a roothold already…

Whites

Alvarinho Star grape of Vinho Verde, grown mostly in the north of the region. Best are rich, full-bodied and fragrant white wines, best drunk young. Always expensive.

Antao VAZ Good, acid-retaining white grape from the Alentejo region, often barrel-fermented and rich.

Arinto (aka Pedernã in Vinho Verde, Cerceal in Dão and Bairrada) Steely, high acid white grown widely in northern Portugal. Main grape of Bucelas. Often blended, but makes good, lemony, mineral whites that can gain complexity with age.

Bical Important in the Beiras (Bairrada and Dão), makes wine with fresh acidity and good, peachy-floral flavours, good young, and ages well to increasingly toasty complexity.

Encruzado Dão’s star white grape, capable of light, fresh whites or rich barrel-fermented ones.

FernAo Pires (aka Maria Gomes in Bairrada) Aromatic grape that makes pleasant, dry or off-dry floral whites in the Ribatejo, Estremadura and Terras do Sado, and easy-going fizz in Bairrada.

Gouveio One of the white heroes of the Douro, along with Rabigato, Côdega (aka Síria), Malvasia Fina, Folgasão (aka Terrantez) and Viosinho.

Loureiro Most widely-planted Vinho Verde grape, making citrussy, floral wines.

MOSCATEL Famous for sweet, fortified Moscatel of Setúbal.

Síria (aka Côdega in Douro, Roupeiro in Alentejo) Best known for honeyed Alentejo whites, but also grown in the Douro (for white port) and as Síria in the Beiras.

Trajadura Relatively aromatic, soft Vinho Verde grape.

Reds

Alfrocheiro Early ripening Dão grape, now more widely planted. Gives rich tannin, strawberry-like fruit and good acidity.

Alicante Bouschet Red-fleshed grape, originally from the South of France, now increasingly planted in the Alentejo, for dense, treacly reds.

AragoneS (aka Tinta Roriz in Douro and Dão, Tempranillo) Early-ripening, red-fruited reds that age well in oak.

Baga Historic red Bairrada grape, making lean, astringent, tannic reds that can mature to complexity with age. In hotter years, Baga can give rich, dense, elegant reds, with cherry and damson perfume. In most, though, Baga by name…

CastelAo (aka Periquita in Terras do Sado in the past) Late-ripening, difficult grape, though very widely planted. At its best in Terras do Sado, making firm, elegant, raspberry-fruity reds that evolve well.

Tinta Barroca Douro grape more famous for quantity than quality.

Tinta Miúda (possibly Spain’s Graciano) High acid, dark coloured, and widespread in Estremadura.

Touriga Franca (aka Touriga Francesa in the past) Definitely in the top trio of Douro grapes, with appealing floral fragrance and velvety tannins.

Touriga Nacional Arguably Portugal’s finest red grape, with complex aromas of herbs, flowers and black fruits, and the structure to age.

Trincadeira (aka Tinta Amarela in Douro) Grown almost everywhere, but best in hot climates. Makes bright, raspberry-fruited, spicy reds.

Vinhao (aka Sousão in Douro) Another red-fleshed grape, with very high acidity and dark red colour. Main red of Vinho Verde.

Editorial feature from Imbibe Magazine - March / April 2008