The face of Portuguese wines has been changing over the past decade, with fortified Port wines falling out of favour in world markets, leaving the winemakers scrambling to repurpose their vineyards with more profitable plantings.
Fortunately, Portugal has a long and noble history of winemaking, dating back over 4000 years, so they are well equipped to deal with changes in consumer preferences.
Portugal was already a renowned wine region at the dawn of the Roman Empire in 100BCE, and exported most of its wine to Rome for centuries, until the Moorish invasion of the Iberian Peninsula in 711CE put what is now modern-day Spain and Portugal under Muslim rule for centuries.
As you might imagine, the Moorish ban on alcohol damaged the wine trade, but the Portuguese vineyards quickly recovered when the Knights Templar of the Holy Roman Empire reconquered the Iberian Peninsula.
A renaissance of Portuguese wine occurred around 1200CE, with England stepping forward to purchase the entirety of the Portuguese wine harvest.
It seemed that England had a bottomless appetite for French wines, but England and France also had this habit of regularly declaring war upon each other, so Portuguese wine exports were seen as a substitute for the wines of Bordeaux and Burgundy that became inaccessible during wartime.
The English maintained a near-monopoly on Portuguese wine exports for centuries, ending with the Napoleonic Wars in the early 1800s.
Portugal is most widely known for the fortified styles of Port and Madeira, with Port more popular in Europe, and Madeira more popular in the New World colonies of the Americas.
For those not familiar with the Madeira style, it hails from the Portuguese island of Madeira, a trading stop between Europe and the New World, which is likely why Madeira became so popular in the Americas in the 1800s.
Madeira is a fortified wine made from native Portuguese grapes, with neutral grape distillate added to halt fermentation, then the wine is heated in steel vats for a period of at least 90 days.
The excessive heat was found to improve the wine, and it proved especially resistant to spoilage on the long journey across the sea to the New World, which contributed to its popularity in the pre-refrigeration era.
Today, fortified wines like Port and Madeira are falling out of favour, as consumer palates are leaning towards lighter-bodied wines.
Fortunately, the fertile soils along the Douro River provide the ideal terroir for countless grape varietals, so the winemakers of the region have been able to adapt to changing market preferences.
Most red wines in Portugal are made with the Touriga Nacional grape, which is widely considered to be the premier grape of Portugal.
Touriga Nacional has a firm tannic backbone that provides structure to the wine, as well as rich flavours of black fruit, which sometimes causes this grape to be compared with Cabernet Sauvignon.
Touriga Nacional ages well, which is why it was traditionally a large portion of the blend in fortified Port wines, and does equally well in unfortified table wines.
You will find plenty of Touriga Nacional wines at your friendly neighbourhood booze merchant for under $20/bottle, so it is by no means an expensive grape.
For those who prefer white wines, Alvarhino is the most popular white varietal. Attentive readers may notice the similarity to the Albariño grape from Spain, which is exactly the same varietal, just grown on the other side of the Spanish / Portuguese border.
White wines from Portugal are generally consumed young, and the Alvarhino grape bursts with aromas of jasmine, hints of peach and orange blossom, finishing with tropical notes of lychee and passion fruit.
These youthful flavours tend to fade after the first year in the bottle, so your intrepid liquor reporter never tries to save a Portuguese white wine in the cellar for extended aging, leaving that for the red wines who can improve with age.
The modern wine industry in Portugal has built upon millenia of history, and is now the fifth largest exporter in the world, following the historical giants of France/Italy/Spain, and the New World upstart of Australia.
Your humble narrator has noticed the Portuguese aisle at my friendly neighbourhood booze merchant growing over the years, so browse the shelves on your next visit to find a bottle to try for yourself
