We are in the north, the green land of Portugal. Here, the sun is not quite as merciless as in the southern part of the country, and the occasional rain provides the flora with essential moisture.
The glorious Douro River has shaped one of the most beautiful landscapes on the Iberian Peninsula, if not in all of Europe. This magnificent region boasts delicious wines and delightful culinary offerings.
Like a snake, the winding vineyards stretch across the entire valley at all altitudes and slopes, leaving behind endless traces of terraced vineyards that have been cultivated for over 2,000 years.
At the Spanish border, the mountainous land even reaches considerable heights, which are used for winter sports in the cold season. Here, nature is allowed to unfold freely, so that wolves now even live there.
In the heart of Spain, in the province of Soria, the river rises and then winds its way 897 kilometers, almost precisely from east to west, through Iberia. About 140 kilometers east by air from the city of Porto, where port wine comes from, the Douro enters Portuguese territory. It carves a breathtaking valley into the landscape. The steep, centuries-old terraced vineyards rest on black shale at altitudes of up to 700 meters.
These masterpieces date back to the work of many generations and bring forth the wine for which Portugal is so highly regarded worldwide. A floral diversity surrounds the houses, which together with fields and trees also find their place on the mountains.
Upstream - The Douro
The river is the defining feature of the region. From the Spanish border to the Atlantic Ocean, it winds past wine producers, the terraced quintas as if etched into the mountains. Thanks to its beauty coupled with its impressive history, the region has attained the status of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The journey upstream is one of the most picturesque routes in the world. As soon as spring arrives, more and more boats venture out onto the water to make up for the time spent hibernating in the cold.
In the past, the Douro was used to ship barrels from the higher regions to the port wine cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia and Porto. However, evidence of the Douro's use as a waterway dates back to the time of the Roman occupation. Even today, the Douro is navigated, but no longer with the same significance as in the days before motorization.
The Three Regions of the Douro Valley
Alto Douro (Upper Douro) is the world's first protected designation of origin wine-growing region. Only here may the historic port wine be produced. As early as 1756 the then Prime Minister Marquês de Pombal had the area mapped and legally defined.
He restricted viticulture to the very schist-rich sites formed during the Precambrian in the Douro area. The schist soil is intersected by granite veins on both sides of the Douro Valley, even across the national border into Spain.
Port wine is not the only thing that comes from this famous region. In the 1950s, the port wine house Ferreira introduced Barca Velha - a red wine made from the grapes of the higher regions of the Douro Valley, which today are among the most sought-after sites.
Often, the taming of these sites had not been successful for the winemakers, but more and more invested in the necessary equipment and learned the viticultural techniques under these extreme geographical and climatic conditions. Since 1979, the designation of the growing area applies not only to port wine, but also to table wines.
The Douro region enjoys the highest DOC wine standard. The steep sites are extremely difficult to work and must be pruned and harvested by hand. Although the Douro region is now famous for its wines, it is still a surprisingly quiet and slow place with a very welcoming culture.
The valley can be divided into three areas from west to east: Baixo Corgo, Cima Corgo, and Douro Superior.
Baixo Corgo
Baixo Corgo means “below the Corgo” in Portuguese and is the subregion of the Douro Valley with the mildest climate and the highest rainfall. The humidity is high, and the temperature differences are small.
Baixo Corgo represents the western part of the Douro Valley and extends from the town of Peso da Régua to the Corgo River. The region contains 14,000 hectares of vineyards, accounting for 50% of the total vineyard area of the Douro.
Although Baixo Corgo was the very first subregion to be planted, the wine produced here is considered lower in quality compared to the other two.
Cima Corgo
The name of this subregion means “above the Corgo,” and with 19,000 hectares, it is the largest part of the wine-growing area on the Douro. The region is centered around the village of Pinhão, where most of the quintas (=wine estates) are located.
The climate in Cima Corgo is very dry and hot. The landscape is rather barren, extremely steep, and rocky. 40% of the total production of the Douro growing region takes place here.
Douro Superior or Douro Corgo
The “Upper Douro” is the hottest and driest wine-growing subregion in the north and extends to the Spanish border. Douro Superior contains 8,700 hectares of vineyard land and is the source of many high-quality wines.
Douro Superior is the least accessible area of the three Douro regions. As it is the youngest of the three and still very wild, it is still in a growth phase.
The Grapes of the Douro
The Douro Valley is one of the most beautiful regions in Portugal, known for its terraced vineyards, which have been passed down and adopted for generations, as well as the “Golden River” that adorns the steep hills.
Vineyards planted on schist are mostly used to produce port wine, while granite-based land is used to produce table wine.
There are now over 40 indigenous grape varieties in the Douro. The most important are the red ones: Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz (=Tempranillo), Bastardo, Tinta Amarela, Tinto Cão, Tinta Barroca, and Castelão. And the white ones: Viosinho, Donzelinho Branco, Gouveio, Rabigato, and Malvasia Fina.
For a long time, the many different grapes in the Douro were not identified and were hardly studied. Mixed plantations were the norm, and most vineyard owners did not even know what they were planting.
This changed in the 1970s. At that time, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Tinto Cão, and Tinta Barroca were designated as the most important dark red grapes.
This gave rise to a new movement in the Douro, which produced quality wines and also focused on specific vines. Some winegrowers now concentrated their efforts on a single grape instead of several and were able to further increase the quality of the respective grapes. Of course, the old vineyards with mixed grape varieties still exist and will continue to do so for a long time.
And now from the Douro we go to the Minho, the green soul of Portugal, the Vinho Verde.
About the Author
Inara Muradowa is an SEO expert and corporate blogger. In addition to technical search engine optimization and SEO consulting, she actively assists companies with the conception and writing of professional blog posts.
