Exploring Douro (Portugal)

Flowing down from the mountains of Spain and passing through Portugal to the Atlantic Ocean, it starts as the Ribera Del Duero and becomes Rio Douro when it crossses the border in the northeast corner of Portugal exiting at Porto, this mighty river is perhaps the key to Portugal's most famous wine region, Douro Denominação_de_Origem (DOC). Sometimes known as Alta Douro as the river cuts theough the mountains to form the Douro Valley, it is shielded from the coastal weather by the mountains that it cuts through.

The weather here is best described as continental. The winters are cool with typical daytime highs around 5C and wet with rain on about one day in three. The summers are warm with near constant sunshine (typical highs run between 25 and 30C/ 77-86F) and very dry. During the summer months, there is just a sprinkling of rain a day or two every month.

The wine style here is quite diverse. Once, the only wines exported off the Iberian peninsula from Douro were the famous dessert wines known as Porto or Port. Since the revolution in the early 70s overturned the military-based government, export of dry table wines has increase to the point that Douro wines have gained at least a measure of popularity off the peninsula.

Think about, though. Go to your favorite restaurant, even one with an excellent wine list. You don't see Portuguese wines. Go to even that special wine shop with lots of unique bottlings. You don't see a section labeled Portuguese wines. The lack of mass popularity has kept prices down and that is good for the consumer. While you can find Douro wines that will stretch the capacity of most wallets, you can also find a large number of excellent selections for well under US$ 15 and many for about one-half of that.

Today, the dry wines coming from Douro that merit your consideration are almost exclusively red. While many of these are blends, the primary grape in most of them is Touriga Nacional, but we also see a lot of Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo in Spain) as well Touriga Francesa. Until roughly the 1980s, almost all of the Touriga Nacional grapes worth using in wine production were used in the treasured Port wines of the region, but many of the less renowned houses saw viability in the drier red wines and began using some, or in many cases nearly all, of their Touriga Nacional and other grapes for red table wines.

What's the appeal? Touriga Nacional is a fairly full-bodied and quite tannic grape. Tinta Roriz, of course, is a more medium-bodied and somewhat less tannic grape. Add in Touriga Francesa, sometimes called Touriga Franca and you are treated to some wonderful expressions.

What we get here from the Touriga Nacional is an rich, opulent wine with loads of plum, blackberry, and violet with notes of smoke and charcoal. From the Tinta Roriz, the tannins are moderated and provide notes of leather, tobacco, and vanilla. And, from the Touriga Franca, we get cinnamon and baking spices. The less expensive wines tend to drink fairly young, but once you get into the $20 range, you can expect to find a wine that is worthy of 10-15 years of cellaring. (Try doing that with a $20 California Cabernet.)

To top it off, these wines are quite food-friendly, at least if your food is meat or shellfish. One of the local favorites is Beef Pierrade (beef cooked on a hot rock). Also consider it with virtually any pork dish or with palourdes, the small clams that provide for a mouth-watering treat particularly near the small fishing village of Cascais, just outside of Lisboa.