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Malvasia is a group of wine grape varieties grown historically in the Mediterranean region, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands and the island of Madeira, but now grown in many of the winemaking regions of the world. In the past, the names Malvasia, Malvazia, and Malmsey have been used interchangeably for Malvasia-based wines; however, in modern oenology, "Malmsey" is now used almost exclusively for a sweet variety of Madeira wine made from the Malvasia grape. Grape varieties in this family include Malvasia bianca, Malvasia di Schierano, Malvasia negra, Malvasia nera, Malvasia nera di Brindisi, Malvasia di Candia aromatica, Malvasia odorosissima, and a number of other varieties.
Alicante Bouschet or Alicante Henri Bouschet is a wine grape variety that has been widely cultivated since 1866. It is a cross of Petit Bouschet and Grenache. Alicante is a teinturier, a grape with red flesh. It is one of the few teinturier grapes that belong to the Vitis vinifera species. Its deep colour makes it useful for blending with light red wine. It was planted heavily during Prohibition in California for export to the East Coast. Its thick skin made it resistant to rot during the transportation process. The intense red color was also helpful for stretching the wine during prohibition, as it could be diluted without detracting from the appearance. At the turn of the 21st century, Alicante Bouschet was the 12th most planted red wine grape in France with sizable plantings in the Languedoc, Provence and Cognac regions. In 1958, Alicante Bouschet covered 24,168 hectares ; by 2011, plantings represented less than 4,000 hectares. This scenario is largely reversed in other regions of Europe, and in southern Portugal, where its wines are highly prized and frequently outscore traditional autochthonous varieties.
Vinho Verde refers to Portuguese wine that originated in the historic Minho province in the far north of the country. The modern-day 'Vinho Verde' region, originally designated in 1908, includes the old Minho province plus adjacent areas to the south. In 1976, the old province was dissolved.
Touriga Nacional is a variety of red wine grape, considered by many to be Portugal's finest. Despite the low yields from its small grapes, it plays a big part in the blends used for ports, and is increasingly being used for table wine in the Douro and Dão. Touriga Nacional provides structure and body to wine, with high tannins and concentrated flavors of black fruit. Jancis Robinson has compared its relationship with Touriga Francesa to the partnership between Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, the former providing structure, the latter filling out the bouquet.
Portuguese wine is the result of traditions introduced to the region by ancient civilizations, such as the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks, and mostly the Romans. Portugal started to export its wines to Rome during the Roman Empire. Modern exports developed with trade to England after the Methuen Treaty in 1703. From this commerce a wide variety of wines started to be grown in Portugal. And, in 1758, one of the first wine-producing regions of the world, the Região Demarcada do Douro was created under the orientation of Marquis of Pombal, in the Douro Valley. Portugal has two wine-producing regions protected by UNESCO as World Heritage: the Douro Valley Wine Region and Pico Island Wine Region. Portugal has a big variety of local kinds, producing a very wide variety of different wines with distinctive personality.
Tinta Cão is a red Portuguese wine grape variety that has been grown primarily in the Douro region since the sixteenth century. The vine produces very low yields which has led it close to extinction despite the high quality of wine that it can produce. Improvements in bilateral cordon training and experiments at University of California, Davis have helped to sustain the variety. The vine favors cooler climates and can add finesse and complexity to a wine blend.
Minho, formerly Rios do Minho, is a Portuguese wine region covering the same areas as the Vinho Verde DOC. The region is classified as a Vinho Regional (VR), a designation similar to a French vin de pays region. The wines of the Minho and Vinho Verde are nearly identical except for the Minho VR allowing foreign grape varieties to be used that are excluded from the Denominação de Origem Controlada (DOC) regulations for Vinho Verde.
Arinto or Arinto de Bucelas is a white Portuguese wine grape planted primarily in the Bucelas, Tejo and Vinho Verde regions. It can produce high acid wines with lemon notes.
Azal branco is a white Portuguese wine grape planted primarily in the Minho region but with greater expansion to Amarante, Basto, Baião and Vale do Sousa sub-regions. It noted for the high acidity of its wines, and is used for white Vinho Verde. Varietal Azal Branco wines can be somewhat reminiscent of Riesling.
Cayetana blanca, also known as Cayetana or Jaén, is a white Spanish wine grape. It is grown mainly in the south of Spain, especially in Extremadura and in the Jerez region where it is distilled for use in brandy production.
Fernão Pires is a white Portuguese wine grape grown throughout Portugal, especially in the Tejo and Bairrada, where it is also known as "Maria Gomes". This variety is known to produce wines with a spicy aromatic character, though often with delicate exotic fruity notes. Generally not expected to be a long-living wine, this wine is best drunk in its infancy or matured for up to 2 or 3 years. Outside of Portugal there are some significant plantings in South Africa.
Alfrocheiro Preto is a red Portuguese wine grape variety planted primarily in the Dão DOC and Alentejano VR. The grape is known for the deep coloring it can add to wine blends. Under the name Baboso negro, it is considered a minor Spanish red grape variety, growing mainly in the provinces of Zamora and Salamanca, in the region of Castile and León. It is one of the authorized varieties of the La Gomera and El Hierro Denominación de Origen, in the Canary Islands (Spain).
Espadeiro is a red Portuguese wine grape planted primarily in the Minho region for making Vinho Verde. It is also grown across the border, in Galicia (Spain) where it is used to make light bodied wines.
Moreto is a red Portuguese wine grape variety that is planted primarily in the Alentejo. As a varietal, the grape makes neutral wines.
Rabo de Ovelha is white Portuguese wine grape variety that is grown all over Portugal. It should not be confused with the red Rabo de Anho grape variety that is found in the Vinho Verde region. Rabo de Ovelha is an authorized grape variety in the Bairrada, Borba, Bucelas, Redondo, Reguengos, Setúbal and Vidigueira Denominação de Origem Controlada (DOC). The grape variety gets its name from the way its grape bunches resembles the end of a ewe's tail. In winemaking, Rabo de Ovelha is known for producing highly alcoholic wines that wine expert Jancis Robinson describes as lacking subtlety.
Doña Blanca is a white Spanish and Portuguese grape variety that is grown primarily in the northwest Galicia region of Spain and throughout Portugal from the Douro northward. The variety is a permitted grape in the Spanish Denominación de Origens (DOs) of Valdeorras and Monterrei in Galicia and Bierzo in nearby Castile and León. In Spain, the variety is known as Doña Blanca, while in Portugal it goes mainly by the name Doña Branco. The grapes have thick skins, which do well in the wet maritime climate, but it can also impart some astringency and slight bitterness even with the briefest of skin contact during production due to the high proportion of polyphenols in the skin.
Treixadura or Trajadura is white Portuguese wine grape variety grown primarily in the Vinho Verde wine region of northeast Portugal and the Galician wine regions of Ribeiro and Rías Baixas in Spain where the variety is known as Treixadura. The grape is primarily a blending variety that adds body and light lemony aromatics to wines. It is most commonly blended with Loureiro and Alvarinho in Rías Baixas while in Ribeiro it is often blended with Torrontés and Lado.
Terrantez is a white Portuguese wine grape variety that was once widely used on the island of Madeira to make the sweet fortified wine for which the island is known. Today, the variety is nearly extinct on the island. There are still some limited plantings in the Minho Province where, as Cascal, is a permitted blending variety with Alvarinho and other grapes in the Denominação de Origem Controlada (DOC) wine Vinho Verde. As Terrantez the grape is permitted in several of the Indicação de Proveniencia Regulamentada (IPR) regions of the Azores including Biscoitos IPR on Terceira Island, Graciosa IPR on the white island of Graciosa and Pico IPR on Pico Island.
Rufete is a red Spanish/Portuguese wine grape variety that is grown primarily used in port wine production in the Douro region of Portugal. It is also grown up along the Duero basin across the border in the Spanish province of Castile and León and can be found in the Dão DOC of Portugal where the variety is known as Tinta Pinheira.
References
- 1 2 Avesso, Vitis International Variety Catalogue, accessed on June 27, 2010
- ↑ J. Robinson Jancis Robinson's Wine Course Third Edition pg 100 Abbeville Press 2003 ISBN 0-7892-0883-0
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