The Douro Valley

Portugal has over 250 different indigenous grape varieties. Vines have to be tough to face the climatic challenges of the Douro ValleyIt’s often said that we have 9 months of winter and 3 months of hellishily hot summer in our region. The vines must be capable of handling both, the extremely hot and moderately cold temperatures of the Douro without the grapes losing acidity during the decisive ripening period.

Mixed plantings of a handful or more grape varieties help to maintain balance and freshness in the wines. Moreover, the high altitude of the vineyards (up to 700 meters) helps to preserve the acidity and the stony soils give the wines a pronounced minerality.

In the demarcated Douro Region, we have 64 authorized red and 46 authorized white varietals (easy to remember!). However, only about a dozen of them are widely planted.

People have lived in our valley along the Douro river for at least 25,000 years. We know that because of prehistoric carvings that were found in the northern Douro Valley. Our region’s history of viticulture has been a longstanding tradition, going back thousands of years. One could say that making wine is in our blood.

Wines that went across borders for quite a while: Wine exports have a long history Portugal having had a long-term trading relationship with England. Several wars between England and France during the 18th century considerably increased the demand for Port wines in Britain.

By expanding the transport routes within the Douro Valley the local winegrowers, who lived at their Quintas (as the wineries are called) surrounded by the terraced vineyards, were able to deliver the young Port wines via the Douro river to Oporto on the Atlantic coast, from where they could be shipped across the ocean.

In 1756 Portugal’s Prime Minister Marques de Pombal drew the borders of the Douro Valley, making it the oldest, demarcated wine region in the world. That led to wine became the region’s main crop, and grapes almost the sole source of income for the valley’s inhabitants. They delivered their wines to the traders in Oporto who undertook the export sales and marketing for the region.

Only after Portugal joined the European Union in 1986 was the export monopoly of the large Port houses abolished and the individual Quintas were granted the right to sell directly on the world market.

On December 14, 2001, a large part of the Alto Douro wine region was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site; another decisive step for the region’s international renown.

With the Douro Boys, the group of like-minded vintners of Quinta do Crasto, Quinta do Vallado, Quinta Vale Meão & Niepoort was formed. We made the quality and importance of Portuguese red and white table wines known around the world. Because of our promotion the valley is now considered an insider tip by travellers all over the world.

(Eager to discover this insider tip that is the Douro? Head on over to the Quintas to make a booking and don’t forget to check out our advice for your trip!)