Food & Drink in the Algarve, Portugal

what to drink during your stay in the Algarve

The Wines of Portugal - White Grape varieties

Bom Dia

No `Island Life' setting for me this month - instead I am having to endure, like many of you no doubt, the current dismal and cold spell of British winter weather.  Don't you just want to be drinking a glass or two of a good Portuguese wine in the Algarve right now?

There are more than 200 indigenous grape varieties to be found in Portugal and no doubt over the coming months I will manage to touch on a good percentage of these for you; encouraging you to try these `unusual' varieties and their resulting wines.  The diversity of styles that the grapes offer the consumer is fascinating in itself, and their discovery can be highly enjoyable and rewarding. It is my intention in this series to help your understanding of the wines and grapes of Portugal, and of course to enhance your enjoyment and wine buying experience.

I thought this month we would investigate many of the White varieties so eclectic and native to the country, or sometimes to the specific wine regions.  There is nowhere better to begin and to demonstrate the importance of these indigenous grapes that the subject of Vinho Verde, which I know I have already referred to in earlier articles.  It is just amazing that in this one region alone, there are 12 different grape varieties responsible for, and therefore important to, our great VV's, of which unsurprisingly 7 are white.  Surprisingly though at least to the uninitiated, we just don't see these outside of Portugal; often not even outside this region!

The most prestigious of the whites here is the ALVARINHO, synonym - Albarino (Spain), which unquestionably produces much of the best local wine but perhaps the least typical.  The Alvarinho wines, which are mainly produced in the classic sub-region of Moncao, can be up to 13% alcohol by volume and the resulting wines can be laid down and aged - neither of these facets being typical of VV; as well as being rich and full-bodied.  Alongside this, Loureiro, Trajadura and Pederna are all grown in the zone around the towns of Braga, Barcelos & Guimaraes.  These high yielding vines produce wines that are light and fresh, with typically an alcohol level of just 8 to 10%. Azal & Avesso are also grown in the DOC, the latter being an important variety near to the town of Baiao, producing here a slightly fuller style of wine.

One variety I haven't mentioned but must do is the ARINTO, to many one of the important white vines of Portugal.  Not only is this grown in the North but it is also regarded as a classic in the Estremadura, Ribatejo & Terras do Sado wine regions.  The vines in the former of these 3 DOC zones can be close to the Atlantic Ocean and are therefore subject to a cooler, moderate and often wetter climate or, grown further inland experience more heat and extreme conditions.  Therefore the Estremadura white wines can vary from fuller and stronger in the latter conditions, to lighter and fresher in the former.  Alongside Arinto here and in the Ribatejo (or River Tagus) region, the favoured white grape is the FERNAO PIRES, several cases of which, in the form of a wine called `The Cork Grove', I have just picked up, on promotion at under £4 from leading Portuguese retailer Waitrose, for use in this Spring' consumer tastings on behalf of the Trade Office.

Sorry to mention spring if you are currently freezing but hopefully it will soon be here!   But mentioning tastings, please remember if you have a group, club or company that would like to have just such a tutored tasting of the Portuguese wines I am describing, then please contact me at wineeducators@aol.com.

So to resume, the Ribatejo - a prominent production area which is responsible for many of the red & white wines on sale in the U.K. and an area which we will delve into in detail at a later date, again gives the grapes a high dose of both sun and heat and therefore wines can have substantial alcoholic content, which is fine providing that the alcohol is in balance with the other component parts of the wine.  I see a lesson in wine tasting and assessment looming on another occasion.

The final member of the above mentioned trio of regions is the Terras do Sado, where we have two specialities or unique traits.  Firstly and unusually, growers are achieving good results with `foreign' classic white varieties such as Riesling, Gewurztraminer & Chardonnay, on which I will not linger. But I will dwell on the grape whose full title is the Muscat of Alexandria.  Both for dry wines, retaining flavour and aromatics, and therefore making them superbly suitable for spicy ethnic cuisine such as Thai or Indian; and for the renowned Fortified Moscatels (syn. Muscat) as in Setubal.  These great dessert wines are definitely worth discovering, and they have a much wider use than just desserts. By the way an example of the former, dry, style would be the Joao Pires Branco that has been so popular for some time now over here.

I cannot close the door on the white varieties without a quick mention of Maria Gomes & Bical in Bairrada and perhaps too the Encruzado of Dao.  The Bairrada white grapes in fact are often vinified to make Espumosos or Espumantes, the local, traditional Sparkling wines.

So as March approaches the entire Portuguese wine industry is gearing itself up for one of the major export events on the calendar - the annual Wines of Portugal Trade Tasting, this year being held for I believe the first time at London's Vinopolis. This single day, attended by major buyers, the press and of course me, realistically sets the scene for the year in terms of what appears on the shelves in your local supermarket or store.

Over 50 producers, importers and agents will be present for the huge trade audience who will taste their way through around three to four hundred wines over a period of seven hours or so. A tough job we have I know, but someone has to do it as the saying goes!  In fact it was because of how impressed I was with many of the white wines at last year's event that I have widened the range of whites in our tastings and which inspired me to cover them above.

I will give you my thoughts on the tasting and the wines in next month's article. Until then enjoy your (Portuguese) wines and hopefully you will get some warm sunshine too!

Martin Ward           Wine Educators International

If you would like to know more about Portuguese Food and Drink, why don't you dip into our Restaurants in the Algarve section and our series of articles on Portuguese Wines and Ports.  We also feature some Traditional Portuguese Recipes and a glossary of useful Portuguese food & drink words and phrases

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