Portugal: Still the Best Kept Secret in Europe

We have a serious soft spot for Portuguese wines. For such a small country, it has an incredibly diverse range of climates, soil types, traditions, and grapes. In fact, no country boasts more indigenous varietals than this strip of land in the northwest Iberian peninsula. 

What Portugal really excels at, though, is value. Whether you’re looking for a richer, complex red, ultra crisp white, or something burgundy-esque, Portugal’s got you covered.

Portugal has four famous regions: Douro, Dão, Alentejo, and Vinho Verde. It has tons more, though, from Lisboa around Lisbon, to one of our all-time favorites, Bairrada. 

Douro makes most of the grapes used in Port production, so you’ll find similar flavors in their dry offerings. Dão has a slightly cooler climate and is influenced by the Atlantic, so even though many of the same grapes grow here as in Douro, the wines have a freshness and elegance to them. 

Alentejo is warm and sunny, so these wines have a richness and fruit quality usually associated with New World wines. And though we know you’ve had Vinho Verde before, this region in the north grows over 20 different varieties, including red. Everything they make has a youthful vibe that will bring a smile to your face!

Bairrada, much lesser known, features the grape Baga. The wines from here have a distinct salinity to them, have zesty acid to them, and also have pronounced structure from tannin. Think rustic Nebbiolo. Compare a good bottle from Bairrada with great Barbaresco, and you will immediately

Stop in and ask us about our Portugues offerings. We know we’ve got something you will love!