Speaking Portuguese Wine

Before getting too specific about Portuguese wine, some of the basics need to be firmly understood.

Most of the wine in Portugal is a blend. It does not matter if we are discussing Port, the wine that most people know of from Portugal, or if we are talking about dry reds and white wines. The statistic that is being thrown around is that 10% of the wine made in Portugal is of a single variety. So far in my tastings that stat has held up, but I would be remiss if I claimed it was an exact figure.

So what are the wines a blend of? For our purposes here I will be talking about the dry reds and whites and leave Port for another time. By the way, when I say dry I mean "does not contain a noticeable amount of sugar."

So, the dry reds: The most commonly used red grapes are Touriga Nacional and Tinta Roriz (also known as Tempranillo). Touriga Nacional makes wines that can be very tannic and very powerful. Tinta Roriz is used to bring acidity and slightly softer fruit flavors to a wine. Still common, but less so, are the grapes Jean (also known in Spain as Mencia) and Alfrocheiro.

And now the whites: Besides Vinho Verde in the north (made from the Verdelho grape), there are a scattering of white grapes in and around Portugal. One the grapes I have tasted the most of to-date is Encruzado. It is a very high acid grape with brings out lots of the minerality from the granite soils in the region. Other white grapes include Bical, Malvasia Fina, and Cerceal Branco. 

So we have our grapes and now we begin to taste the various regions, which will be included in further postings. In the meantime, you can try the wines that are in the store with a greater understanding of the grapes involved in making the wine, especially Touriga Nacional and Tinta Roriz.