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Portugal is a country of vinous extremes. It has a diverse array of terroirs and grape varieties and an ancient winemaking history. Yet its story is often oversimplified, with a focus on the massive success of Portuguese fortified wines and the industrial upheaval that took place in the 20th century.
This guide focuses on Portugal’s dry wines. While it includes a general discussion of the country’s history, geography, climate, wine law, grapes, and regions, information relevant only to Portuguese fortified wines is omitted and will be addressed in a future expert guide to fortified wine.
Wine has been made in Portugal for thousands of years. Phoenician amphorae have been found along the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts of Portugal in settlements that date back as far as 800 BCE. The legacy of the western Phoenicians is felt in Portugal even today, especially in Alentejo, where amphora (known locally as talha) winemaking still thrives.
Starting around 200 BCE, Portugal was conquered by the Roman Empire, and the Romans expanded winemaking efforts. They planted heavily in Lusitania, a Roman district that extended from the Tagus River to the Douro River. The Romans also likely introduced the first serious plantings of vinifera in Gallaecia, the Roman administrative district that covered the area from the Douro River north to the Atlantic.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, Portugal was briefly occupied by Germanic tribes before being assimilated into the Islamic empire in the eighth century CE. Despite Islam’s prohibition on alcohol, wine production did not suffer significantly.
The event that cemented Portugal as a wine-producing powerhouse in Europe was the Reconquista, or the Christian “retaking” of Spain and Portugal in the 11th and 12th centuries CE. As devout Christian practice spread across the Iberian Peninsula, the production of wine went from a matter of gastronomic and commercial desirability to a religious and social necessity.
In general, the northern part of Portugal was planted by the Cistercians, and the southern aspect was planted by the Phoenicians and expanded on and commercialized by the Romans. Notably, this divide between northern and southern Portugal is still felt deeply today. Those in the north and those in the south follow separate football teams, drink different beer, and rarely drink the other’s wines. This divide also highlights the remarkably minor distinctions between northern Portugal and Spanish Galicia, which have tremendous cultural similarities. The Galician language is much closer to modern-day Portuguese than it is to Spanish.
To facilitate the expansion of wine production in Portugal as Christian immigration and conversion swelled, the first king of Portugal, Afonso Henriques (the son of Henry of Burgundy), relied on the expertise of the Cistercian monks. The Cistercian order was founded in 1098, and the monks quickly developed a reputation as some of Europe’s greatest farmers and craftsmen. The order entered Portugal in 1153 and spread along its Atlantic and northern borders, instilling its style of intensive viticulture and land management here, as it famously did in northern Europe. The network of the Cistercian order remained strong in Portugal well into the 19th century, continuing to support the progress of viticultural ideas and materials.
During the Reconquista, while monastic land ownership and wine production remained important, land was also distributed to the new nobility of Portugal. Often, land was given to knights as a reward, with the stipulation that one-fifth of the harvest be given to the kingdom as tax. These estates were called quintas, a name still used for wineries and vineyards in Portugal.
Compiled by _____ (April 2024)
Edited by Stacy Ladenburger