If you're a traveler and a wine lover you're probably thinking where to go next. For instance, did you know that Portugal has some of the best wines in the world? Let’s take a closer look at the top wine producing regions in this country!

From North to South, Portugal is a little surprise for wine lovers. Red, white, rosé, sweeter or sour, our wines are a unique and wonderful luxury on our tables. Check this Wine Route that we’ve prepared just for you and next dinner remember to serve a nice bottle of our finest wine.

The Green Wine

One of the most famous in Portugal is our sparkling Green Wine, which is not exactly green in color, but it is green as in young or not ripe. This wine is best served fresh and is a great with fish or something fresh in summer. This kind of wine is rapidly bottled to be immediately sold and served. As it is young, and it doesn’t take ages to mature – like other wines – the green wine is lower in alcohol. Some of our best brands are Gazela, Alvarinho, Monção, and Muralhas.

Green Wine is young and fresh and it's ideal for those hot summer days!

The Port Wine

Sweet, perfect as a gift and ideal to make a conversation even more delicious, our Port Wine is our star, and its success is evident. Douro Valley, the oldest demarcated wine region in the world, is the home of this best-seller. You can choose from the different flavors and aromas this wine has available: raspberry, blackberry, caramel, cinnamon, or chocolate. This wine takes years (more than 30) to reach its maturity and it should be served below room temperature. Try to serve a sweet bottle of this wine with a cheese you like, desserts or dark chocolate. How fancy is this? Some of the examples are Ferreira, Kopke and Noval Vintage.

And here you can also try the Douro Wines. The region is normally connected with Port Wine Production, but it also produces delicious “table wines”. These nectars have the highest local wine classification in DOC (Demoninações de Origem Controlada, meaning “Denomination of Controlled Origin”).

Port Wine vineyards are in Douro and are often surrounded by the famous Douro River

The Dão Region

These wines are created at a vastly different climate because it is far from rain from the ocean and strong winds. The high altitude makes this wine more robust and interesting because it gives the wine a certain acidity and you can find them in both red and white.  Dão wines, which are born in granitic regions, age quite well and are sold in various textures: light, fresh or barrel fermented. Some of these wines are Bical, Verdelho, and the famous Encruzado.

The Bairrada Region

The land of leitão (roasted suckling pig) and other intense and explosive flavors, the Bairrada wine comes from the flat regions of dense forests. Bairrada Clássico is well known at a typical Portuguese table. A wine like this can age for more than 10 years and you have either white or red. The white wine tends to be more flowery-aromatic and it’s delicious to drink it in spring and in summer. Some of these wines are: Arinto, Bical, Baga, Touriga Nacional and Merlot.

The Setúbal Pensinula

Both Setúbal and Tróia are great peninsulas that have become incredibly important when it comes to wine making.  The climate is possibly one of the best: mild, hot, dry summers and rainy winters. These wines also age quite well. Moscatel (Muscat) is a sweet and intense wine in Portugal because we use it as a dessert or as a digestive.  Castelão (also known as Periquita) is another good fruit-flavoured wine from Setúbal. The white versions are Arinto, Moscatel de Setúbal and Fernão Pires.

Moscatel (Muscat) is a sweet and intense portuguese wine

The Alentejo Region

Every Portuguese likes to have a bottle of this wine at home to serve on any occasion. In Alentejo the soil is different because it is drier and reddish, so it’s more difficult to produce the white wine but not impossible. Some of the red wines are Borba, Redondo and Reguengos and they can turn our tables into a harmonious meal. Antão Vaz is probably the most famous wine, also fruit-flavored and with an ideal acidity. Some other good wines from this region are Cortes de Cima, Encostas do Enxoé, Pêra Manca and José de Sousa.

Alentejo is an amazing place if you're a fan of Nature and its vineyards are amazing!

The Algarve Region

Not only the good weather or the best beaches make Algarve an inviting place, but so do the wines. With a Mediterranean, fresher, and humid weather, the wines produced are born in favorable conditions. The soils also vary from sandy to sandstone or even limestone or shallow over rock. Some of the examples are Arinto, Malvasia Fina, Aragonez, Chardonnay, and Touriga Nacional.

The Madeira Island

Our island has also got an excellent temperature, which has been making the vineyards last forever. Mountainous landscapes and fertile soil create an acid wine, resulting from the natural acidity of the grapes. Some of the ‘noble’ varieties include the white wines of Sercial, Verdelho and Terrantez. Tinta Negra is dry and the most extensively produced wine in Madeira and they make a fine red wine. It is ideal to match with a prosciutto-wrapped melon or mature cheese.

Madeira's wines are strong and deal to match with a prosciutto-wrapped melon or mature cheese

If you’d like to have this experience in local, join our Portugal Wine Tour to intensively live and try the different tastes. This wine route will take you to the most important wine regions of Portugal and to those places, wineries, and cellars where wine is produced.

Portuguese wines are versatile, fine, and rich and they can transform a normal meal into something more vigorous and interesting!