Alentejo is well worth getting to know. All that is said about the Alentejo is true: light, unrelenting sun, dryness, endless undulating plains, cork trees and holm-oaks, wine and olive oil, bread sauces and lamb stews, coriander and purslane, big modern wines and old clay-pot fermented reds; good, hospitable folk.

Once upon a time Alentejo vines were cultivated by Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans. Nowadays they are grown on vast farms and wine-producing estates and their wines have put the name Alentejo among the best wines in Portugal, while its culinary tradition is regarded as one of the most tasty and original. A world of different flavours that requires time to understand and appreciate – just like the rest of the Alentejo.

Wineries in this region

Malhadinha Nova

Herdade dos Grous

Cortes da Cima

Herdade Sobroso

Ribafreixo

Herdade Rocim

Alexandre Relvas

Monte da Ravasqueira

Created in 1756 by the government of the Marquis of Pombal, as the first demarcated and regulated region in the world, the Alto Douro Wine Region, is an outstanding example of a traditional wine-producing region, famous not only for its Port wine, but also for its more recent high quality table wines. All these wines come from the terraces that surround the river Douro and its tributaries, where walls made of schist support the vineyards full of white or red grapes. Not only is the landscape ialtered by the production of wine, but also the pace of life of the Douro. If the winter is marked by the calm and quietness, which seems to be reflected in the bare vines, the transition from the summer to the autumn brings the bustle of the harvest with a fall and rise of baskets and pruning shears, on the slopes populated by workers. Recognising the importance of the landscape and the traditional wine production activities, in 2001, UNESCO classified 24 600 hectares of the Alto Douro Wine Region, divided into 13 counties, as a World Heritage Site.

Wineries in this region

Real Companhia Velha

F. Olazabal & Filhos

Quinta Da Romaneira

Green and fertile, beaten by intense light and caressed by a climate tempered by the Atlantic influence; this is the picture set by the rolling lands which wind around the Lisbon region and of all the wine-growing regions it is the one which shows the most pronounced diversity, from the geology to the typology of the soils where alluvial lands contrast with the slopes where secondary limestone abounds and the lowlands lie opposite the mountainous massifs of the eastern border.

The Peninsula de Setubal region is steeped in vine-growing tradition and is the realm of two famed grape varieties: the red Castelao and the white Moscatel.

Wineries in this region:

Companhia das Quintas

Wine Ventures

Herdade Rocim

Herdade Pegos Claros

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Wineries in this region:

Fiuza & Bright

“Vinho Verde” is one of the world’s largest delimitated wine regions, covering some 7000 square kilometres in the Minho province. It has a strong geographic, climatic and cultural identity, explaining why “Vinho Verde” is regarded as Portugal’s most original wine. Humid, fertile, with granitic soils and mild temperatures influenced by the Atlantic winds, the region seems to be painted with all the greens in the palette.

Wineries in this region

Quinta da Lixa

With the imposing Serra da Estrela mountains looming on the horizon, the Dao, with its wet winters and hot, dry summers is a region of smallholdings, of lush vegetation, clean air and countless limpid streams running over granite beds. Pine, oak and chestnut trees are common, but vines predominate – over 70 million of them.

Wineries in this region

Quinta do Perdigao

Ribeiro Santo