🏛️ Alto Douro Wine Region
Steep schist terraces of Port wine in Portugal; a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The Alto Douro is a wine area in northern Portugal with steep schist slopes along the Douro River. Port wine comes from here. In 2001 UNESCO added it to the World Heritage List as a cultural landscape shaped by people over many centuries.
The slopes are very steep, so growers have built terraces on them for centuries, held by stone walls. The soil is schist, hard to grow in, and the vine sends roots deep into cracks in search of water. Summers are hot and dry, winters cold. Grapes are picked by hand, and in some places still trodden by foot. Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz and other varieties are grown.
The area is an example of vineyard terraces and schist soils. The boundaries of the Douro are said to have been set by law as early as 1756, which makes it one of the world's oldest officially defined wine regions. Port and the still red wines of the Douro are made here. The landscape is worth seeing, especially in autumn.
How it connects to Wine
🏛️ Alto Douro Wine Region → kind of → 🏛️ UNESCO wine heritage → kind of → 🍷 History of wine → kind of → 🍷 Wine
Links
- Previous step
- 🪨 Schist
- Next step
- 🍷 Port
- Part of
- 🏛️ UNESCO wine heritage, 🌿 Vineyard terraces
Frequently asked questions
What is the Alto Douro?
A wine area in northern Portugal with terraces on schist slopes, the home of port.
Why is it on the UNESCO list?
It is a cultural landscape made by people over centuries: terraces, walls and vineyards.
What is the soil in the Douro?
Mostly schist.
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