Portugal is home to one of the greatest international wine success stories of modern times. That is the production and marketing of medium sweet, lightly sparking rosés. In the late 1980s, Mateus accounted for over 40% of the country's total table wine exports and was especially popular in Europe. Lancers is better known in the United States, where it continues to be successful.Grapes
The type of grapes (castas) is as important has the type of soil and climate, creating the different Portuguese wine breeds, the Castas - grape varieties.
It produces distinctive wines from the Northern regions to Madeira Islands, passing by the Algarve and the Azores.
The particular breed of wines makes Portugal a country with distinctive personality in terms of wine growing. But this distinctiveness brings more diffulties than advantages, due that it would be easier to produce international wine varieties.
In Portugal only some varieties of castas are authorized in the Demarcated regions:
• Vinhos Verdes - white and red castas
• Porto - white and red castas
• Douro - white and red castas
• Dão - white and red castas
• Bairrada - white and red castas
• Bucelas - white castas
• Colares - white and red castas
• Carcavelos - generous castas
• Setúbal - generous castas
• Alentejo - white and red castas
• Algarve - white, red, and Liqueurous castas
• Madeira - generous castas
Each region has its own Comissão Vitivinícola to supervise the quality of the wines in various aspects of the cultivation and preparation of vineyards, but also in assuring the quality of the wine, for instance, in its flavour and scent.
The Appellation System
Main article: Denominação de Origem Controlada
The appellation system of the Douro region was created nearly two hundred years before that of France, in order to protect its superior wines from inferior ones.
The quality and great variety of wines in Portugal are due to noble castas, microclimates, soils and proper technology.
Official designations:
• Quality Wine Produced in a Specific Region (QWPSR) or VQPRD - Vinho de Qualidade Produzido em Região Demarcada.
•These are the most protected wine and indicates a specific vineyard, such as Port Wine, Vinhos Verdes, and Alentejo Wines. These wines are labeled D.O.C. (Denominação de Origem Controlada) which secures a superior quality.
• Wines that have more regulations placed upon them but are not in a DOC region fall under the category of Indicação de Proveniência Regulamentada (IPR, Indication of Regulated Provenance).
• Regional Wine - Vinho Regional Carries with it a specific region within Portugal.
• Table Wines - Vinho de Mesa carries with it only the producer and the designation that it's from Portugal.
