There are several reasons why Portuguese wines (other than Port and Madeira) are not widely known on the international market. Small producers, a (now-undeserved) reputation for producing cheap wines, poor access to distribution channels, etc., all are difficult to solve. One isn’t. A small country like Portugal has more than 300 wine-producing grape varieties in use. But even those among these which are grown elsewhere and are thus household names around the world have specific obscure Portuguese names, preventing international consumers from understanding what they are drinking — and buying. To make matters worse, most grape varieties in Portugal have different names in different Portuguese regions. We looked hard (both on and off-line) for a good guide to Portuguese grape varieties, but found no comprehensive one. What follows is an attempt on our part to provide an online guide to Portuguese grape varieties. They are listed alphabetically. When a particular grape is known by a different name in another Portuguese wine-producing region, we list the name and indicate the region in brackets. When it is also known by another name in another international wine-producing region, we indicate it in square brackets.
Alvarinho (Minho, vinho verde) Albarino [Galicia, vino verde] – Alvarinho is a white grape variety grown in the Northwest part of Iberia — both in Portugal and Spain. Production in Portugal is centered on the town of Moncao, the capital of the vinho verde country. In Galicia, the region of Spain to the North of Portugal, this grape is known as Albarino. Alvarinho grapes have thick skins, which help them withstand the particularly damp climate. They are grown overhead, capturing less of the heat refracted by the ground, and resulting in wines high in acidity and low in alcohol (between 9 and 11%). Alvarinho results in flavorful wines, the top of the vinho verde range. The Portuguese wine market was for a long time blend-oriented, and Alvarinho was one of the first grape varieties to appear on the label of Portuguese varietal wines.
Alvarelhão (Douro / Dão) – Alverelhão is used in full-bodied red, rosés, and Port-wine blends.
Arinto (Bucelas / Ribatejo / Sado) / Pederna (Minho, vinho verde) – Arinto is the mainstay of the Bucelas wine region. It is a white grape variety, and must constitute at least 75% of Bucelas blends. Arinto is also grown in other regions of Portugal, including Ribatejo and Terras do Sado. Arinto is also used in vinho verde blends under the name of Pederna. It has high acidity, yielding wines with a strong structure, which tend to develop a citrus nose with age.
Baga / Tinta Bairrada / Poeirinha (Bairrada / Dão / Ribatejo) – Baga dominates the Bairrada region, also playing important roles in the Dao and Ribatejo regions, where it is called Tinta Bairrada and Poeirinha. Baga grapes have thick skins and yield wines high in tannins and acidity. Baga vines are prone to rotting, leading producers to harvest them early in the season, before the grapes are fully ripe. As a result, Baga-based blends tend to be high in acidity and somewhat astringent. Mateus Rose, the widest known Portuguese wine, is based on Baga.
Bastardo (Douro) / Cabernet Gros [Australia] / Trousseau / Tressot [Chablis] – Bastardo is a red grape used in Portuguese port wine as well as, to a lesser extent, table wines from the Douro region. It is considered an inferior port-wine grape, used in low-end rubies and tawnies.
Bical (Bairrada) / Borrado das Moscas (Dão) – Produced mostly in Bairrada and Dão (where it is called Borrado das Moscas), Bical is a white grape variety that yields wines with high acidity. It is often used in sparkling-wines blends, for which the Bairrada region in known in the Portuguese domestic wine market.
Bual (Madeira) — Bual (or Boal) is used in Madeira wines, designating one of the four types of Madeira wine (the other three are Cerceal, Malvasia, and Verdelho). These are fortified wines produced in the Madeira Island. In fact, Bual designates at least four wine-producing grapes: Codega, Dõna Branco, Rabigato, and Semillon. Bual vines can also be found on the Portuguese mainland and even in Spain, where i is used in the production of sherry and other fortified wines.
Castelão Francês / Periquita (Ribatejo) / João de Santarém (Ribatejo) / Mortagua (Estremadura) / Trincadeira Preta (Sado / Alentejo) – Castelão Francês is planted in most Southern Portuguese wine regions. It produces dark-skinned grapes and yields fruity wines that are usually consumed young.
Cerceal (Madeira) – Cerceal (Sercial in English) is used in Madeira wines, designating the driest of the four types of Madeira wine (the other three are Bual, Malvasia, and Verdelho). As is the case with Bual, Cerceal designates several white grape varieties. Its plantation area has been in decline. Cercel is a late-ripening variety, which yields wines high in both acidity and alcohol. It is the longest-lasting variety of Madeira wine, often aging for more than a century.
Loureiro (Minho, vinho verde) Lourerira [Rias Baixas] – Loureiro means laurel in Portuguese. This white grape variety has a strong laurel scent, and is used both to produce vinho verde in Northern Portugal and, increasingly, as Lourerira in Spanish Rias Baixas. Typically, it features in blends with Trajadura (Treixadura in Spain), but can also be found easily as a varietal wine. Its low alcohol content makes it very popular as a basis for Summer wines to sip during the day.
Malvasia / Malmsey (Madeira) – Malvasia (also known as Malvazia or Malmsey) is a group of wine grape varieties grown in Italy (including Sicily, Lipari, and Sardinia), Corsica, the Iberian Peninsula, the Canary Islands, the island of Madeira, California, and Australia. These grapes are used to produce white (and more rarely red) table wines, dessert wines, and fortified wines of the same name, or are sometimes used as part of a blend of grapes, such as in Vin Santo. Grape varieties in this family include Malvasia Bianca, Malvasia Negra, and a number of other varieties. In the past, the names “Malvasia” and “Malmsey” have been used interchangeably. Presently, however, “Malvasia” generally refers to unfortified white table or desert wines produced from this grape, while “Malmsey” refers to a sweet variety of Madeira wine. Further confusion resulted from the fact that, in the past, the term “Malmsey” referred to any very sweet Madeira wine, regardless of the grape variety from which it was made. This was an outcome of the devastation of Madeiran vineyards by phylloxera in the late 19th century, after which, production of Malvasia and other “noble grape” varieties on Madeira was greatly reduced for the next century. As a result, most non-vintage-dated “Malmsey” was made from the widely grown Tinta Negra Mole or even from fox grape varieties. This changed when Portugal entered the European Union in 1986; EU regulations required that any wine bearing the name “Malmsey” be made with at least 85% Malvasia grapes. Even further confusion results from the fact that vintage-dated Malmseys are often labeled “Malvasia” or “Malvazia”, probably because the relatively rare vintage Malvasias were always made with Malvasia grapes even when most non-vintage “Malmsey” was being made from lesser varieties. The Malvasia grape is of Greek origin, but there is some controversy over exactly where it originated and what grape varieties were its ancestors. Although Malvasia was produced mainly in Greece until the 15th century, the name “Malvasia” is Italian. Malvasia was probably brought to Italy (from where it spread to the western Mediterranean and the Atlantic islands) by the Venetians, who from the 13th to the 17th centuries controlled many of the Greek islands. The name “Malvasia” is thought to derive from Monemvasia, a Venetian fortress on the coast of Laconia, known in Italian as “Malvasia”. A competing theory holds that the name is derived from the district of Malevizi, near the city of Heraklion (known to the Venetians as Candia) on Crete.
Tinta Amarela / Trincadeira / Espadeira (Douro) – Indigenous to Portugal, Tinta Amarela used to be the most popular of the port varietals, though it is less planted today. The tight bunches and thin skin of the grapes makes the berries susceptible to rot and disease, and particularly to powdery mildew, a vulnerability which has contributed to its decline in popularity. Planting in unfertile, sandy soils helps the vine avoid disease. Tinta Amarela is moderately high in yield, and when the fruit nears maturity there is a very small window for harvest between under ripeness and over ripeness. The varietal produces very well structured wines which are not particularly fruity but are deeply colored, with intensely perfumed aromas suggestive of tea and excellent depth. Tinta Amarela represents 6% of the vines planted in the Douro.
Tinta Barroca (Douro) – Cultivated in the Douro Valley only for the last century, Tinta Barroca is one of the region’s most recent varieties. This highly vigorous, robust vine, though among the finest for the production of port, must be sited in cool conditions on north- or east-facing slopes at relatively high altitudes. Its loosely knit clusters, which allow for air circulation, make it resistant to rot, though it is sensitive to drought. The vines yield ample quantities of grapes of very high sugar content, which produce wines of pronounced floral, rather than fruit, character, good structure and firm, ripe tannins. Tinta Barroca is planted in 10% of the region’s vineyards, the third most prevalent vine.
Tinta Cão (Douro) – Indigenous to Portugal, Tinta Cão is one of the oldest Douro varieties, cultivated there since the 16th century and possibly earlier. One of the highest quality port varietals, the vines produce tiny, compact bunches of small berries of low yield, which has led to its decline as new plantings replace old. Of moderately high vigor, it thrives in cooler areas, and the thick skin of the berries contributes to its resistance to disease. The vine’s name means “red dog,” a grape that bites when not ripe, and young Tinta Cão wines, even from optimally ripe grapes, are tough and acidic. Tinta Cão contributes longevity and an exceptional elegance to the port blend which emerges with age. Tinta Cão represents less than 1% of plantings in the Douro Valley.
Tinta Roriz (Douro) / Aragonez (Alentejo) / Tempranillo [Spain] / Valdepeñas [California] – The only classic variety of the Douro not indigenous to Portugal, Tinta Roriz is known in Spain, its birthplace, as Tempranillo. The name, from “temprana,” or “early,” refers to its trait of ripening early. Of the top varietals, Tinta Roriz is the most variable in in quality. High in vigor, moderate in productivity and highly resistant to heat and aridity, it grows best on hot, dry south-facing schist slopes, away from water, with shelter from wind. Such siting helps curb the vine’s vigor and also helps it avoid rot, to which it is susceptible. The Tinta Roriz produces thick-skinned, deeply-colored grapes not too high in acidity which yield masculine wines of firm tannic structure, excellent complexity and distinctive resiny fragrance. It constitutes 12% of plantings in the Douro Valley, the second most prevalent vine.
Touriga Francesa / Touriga Franca / Tinta da Barca (Douro) – Touriga Francesa grape is an early maturing variety that grows in average-sized clusters. Also indigenous to Portugal, the Touriga Francesa is related to the Touriga Nacional vine, though more fragile. The wines these two varieties yield are similar in character, but Touriga Francesa is of slightly lesser concentration and color and shows greater suppleness and elegance. Of moderate vigor and low productivity, it thrives in the hot soils of the Douro Valley’s lower, relatively fertile, slopes where it is protected from wind. Though the grapes are thick-skinned the bunches are delicate, and the fruit may not mature fully in very dry years if planted in arid soils. Very high in tannin and extremely highly scented, it is an important contributor of structure and balance. It shows an intense perfume of fresh red fruit, earth and flowers, and its overt fruitiness is repeated on the palate, preserving a marked grape quality in the wine as it ages. At 21%, it is the most widely planted of the port producing region’s vines.
Touriga Nacional / Touriga Macho / Preto Mortágua (Douro / Dão) – Indigenous to Portugal, Touriga Nacional is the finest and most complete grape for producing vintage port. The vine is vigorous, producing a lot of foliage and fewer bunches of grapes. The vines bear tight clusters of thick-skinned, concentrated, tiny blue-black berries which yield only about nine to ten ounces of grapes (compared to roughly 4.4 pounds) per vine. To curb its vigor, it is best planted in shallow, stony schist soil high on the slope. Grown for quality rather than quantity, Touriga Nacional produces wine with finesse, structure, body and warmth, and yields dark, concentrated, massively tannic and aromatic wines, with an intense black fruit fragrance overlying notes of flowers and tea. It ages to show the complex aromas typically found in mature vintage port. It constitutes a small percentage in the blend of most port wines and due to its low productiviey accounts for only 2% of the Douro Valley’s vines.
Verdelho (Madeira) – Verdelho is a white grape grown throughout Portugal, though most associated with the island of Madeira, and also gives its name to one of the four main types of Madeira wine. The grape has traditionally been one of the most popular grapes planted on the small island of Madeira since vines were first planted there in the 15th century. It was however badly affected by the Phylloxera plague and the number of vines has decreased greatly in the century since then. However, since 1993 any Madeira wine labelled as Verdelho must contain at least 85 percent of the grape, which wasn’t previously the case. The variety of Madeira wine known as Verdelho lies between those of Sercial and Bual in style, being richer than Bual but not as dry as Sercial. The variety is known for its high acidity when aged, but if drunk young generally possesses more flavour than the other Madeira’s. The grape is also grown in the Douro valley where it is known as Gouveio and used in white port. It is also called Godello and Verdello in the rare occasions that it is grown in Spain. The grape has also found some success in the vineyards of Australia. This grape should not be confused with Verdelho Tinto, a red grape also grown in Madeira.
