PORTUGEUSE WINE(2)
Espadeiro
The Espadeiro makes a nice young red wine in the Vinho Verde region and melds flavors and aromas of red berry and flowers.
Bastardo
Despite its less than desirable name, the Bastardo is found in many old vintages of Port wine. Known as the Trousseau in France and the Cabernet Gros in Australia, this grape contributes a full-bodied wine with sweet, date-like aromas.
Jaen
Mostly seen thriving in the Dão region, this grape has a newly discovered grape clone, Spain’s Mencía. It adds sweet fragrance and good balance to its wines.
Tinta Pinheira
The Tinta Pinheira can be found in the Dão region’s DOC wines. Its savory juices result in soft fruitful and aromatic wines.
Alfrocheiro Preto
A Portuguese original, the Alfrocheiro Preto is used to create bold-colored wines with spice and an anise or minty nose.
Baga
The Baga grape is greatly produced in the Barraida DOC and reduces into highly tannic wines that age beautifully. It is also widely reared for the special reserve “garrafeira” wines.
PORTUGUESE WHITES:
Malvasia Fina
The Malvasia Fina is one of the oldest white wine grape varieties, which delivers full-bodied dry to sweet wines with ripe nutty tones. In Portugal, this grape is most commonly blended with other white grapes to produce white Ports but also can been found in Douro table wines.
Gouveio
One of Malvasia Fina’s cohorts in the perfect Port blends, the Gouveio grape echoes medium-dry textures and pale apple overtones.
Viosinho and Donzelinho
The Viosinho and Donzelinho are two more of the grapes used with Malvasi Fina in making white Port wines.
Esgana Cão
Don’t let the translated name “dog strangler” swear you off this grape. It’s an important yet very acidic addition to white Port blends.
Alvarinho
This high-yielding grape offers wines with strong fruity essence and well-balanced flavors.
Borrado Das Moscas
This Portuguese white is produced in the Dão where its unsavory name means "fly droppings" (and that’s the clean version).
Rabo De Ovelha
The Rabo de Ovelha is another grape subjected to Portugal’s often unpleasant naming system — the translation is "ewe's tail." This high-yielding grape is grown all over Portugal.
HOW TO ORDER/BUY
When in Portugal, drink as the Portuguese drink. Now that would be easy if you could just decipher those labels. Those aspiring to get to know Portuguese wines ought to get familiar with the vinho de Portugeuse terminology. See the “Legal Quality Code” section below for the labeling requirements, but start here to get to know some of special terms for picking the perfect Port or Madeira wine.
Port designations, defined by aging and original grape varieties.
