📍 Douro

The Douro is a wine region in northern Portugal along the Douro river, from the Spanish border almost to the city of Porto. Vineyards lie on steep terraces of dark schist that people have cut into the slopes over centuries. Summers are hot and dry, winters cool. Since 2001 this landscape has been on the UNESCO list as the Alto Douro Wine Region.

The Douro is regarded as one of the first officially demarcated wine areas in the world: the boundaries of the zone were set in 1756. Port is made here, a fortified sweet wine that is then aged in Vila Nova de Gaia by Porto, along with the dry wines of the Douro DOC, red and white. The area is divided into three parts going upriver: Baixo Corgo, Cima Corgo and Douro Superior, and the further upriver, the hotter and drier it is.

Red wines are made from Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), Tinta Barroca and Tinto Cão. Whites come from Viosinho, Rabigato, Gouveio and Malvasia Fina. Port and many table wines are usually blends of several grapes, and old plots often hold dozens of varieties planted together.

For comparison with its neighbours: to the south lies Dão, and to the north Vinho Verde, where wines are white and fresh, while across the border to the east lie the Spanish Ribera del Duero and Toro.