11-07-2025
Portuguese Wines Are Competing With Spanish And Italian Bottlings By Giving Quality At A Low Price
The aging room at the modern Taboadella winery in the Dão Valley. Before Portugal's entry into the EU in 1986, its wine industry had been lagging, not so much for Port but for table wines. As Larousse Wine points out, 'an extraordinary energy has been driving many of its producers – from large historic houses, which have always played a leading role–– to cooperatives, often fully modernized, to private domains (quintas), which have multiplied since the 1990s.'
Spurred by the progress and global recognition of Spanish wines, the producers of Portugal, particularly those of Alentejo, adapted the most modern technology and began replanting old vineyards tethered to traditions that had become dated.
American consumers have long enjoyed the lightly sparkling Vinho Verdes and some of the Dãos, but there are now excellent examples of wines from the Touriga Nacional (which originated from Dão) to Tinta Roriz and Castelăo red grapes to the Alvarinho and Loueiro white.
At this point things may be a bit confusing for the consumer owing to the wide variety of styles these grapes are made in.
The Portuguese themselves drink up most of their wines––58 liters per person or 600 million liters total, the highest amount in the world, though, as elsewhere in Europe, consumption is declining. The U.S. is, after France, Portugal's second largest export market at more than $100 million (including Port).
Part of the appeal is that Portuguese wines are remarkably cheap compared to Spanish, French and Italian bottlings, and there has been talk that over-production may hurt the industry in the future. But for now Portugal is very happy both in sales and in the recognition that, finally, their table wines are among the best Europe has to offer. Here are some I enjoy right now.
Encruzado is a white grape that gets its minerality from granite-rich terroir. TABOADELLA RESERVA ENCRUZADO ($35). Encruzado (also called Salgueririnho) is a white grape from the Dão grown in granite soil known for as a blending grape and for its ability to age well. Taboadella's owner, Luisa Amorim, whose family is known for its wine corks since 1870, has since 1999 become one of the few vintners to focus on the varietal, which has a refreshing acidity, and the 2023 vintage resulted in well-ripened grapes. It is delightful with exemplar of fine red wine from the Dão Valley.
QUINTA NOVA DOURO RESERVA 2023 ($36.25). Another wine made by Luisa Amorim, this is a blend of Touriga Franca (35%), Touriga Nacional (35%), Tinta Roriz(15%) and Tinto Cão (15%) grown in the Cima Corgo area. Hand harvested, the grapes undergo fermentation and then age 77% in French oak barrels for 9 months and 23% in cement tanks. The estate was owned by the Portuguese royal family until 1725. It is a big bold wine but just 14% alcohol and ideal with barbecued meats, reflecting Dão Valley traditions with modern tech to make a more refined example.
Grown in a chestnut grove this white wine is aged only in stainless steel.
QUINTA DA FONTE SOUTO FLORíO 2024 ($23) and RED ($23) are products of the Symington Family Estates from the Alto Alentejo region's Souto terroir (souto means 'chestnut grove'). This is their first estate outside of the Douro. The white is a blend of Arinto and Verdelho blend aged in stainless steel and it is bright, clean and tangy on the palate. The red is a complex blend of Alfrocheiro, Aragonez, Alicante Bouschet, Touriga Nacional and other Portuguese varieties, aged for six months in seasoned French oak, and all those varietals mesh into a lovely, medium-bodied red wine with a little oak resonance, so it goes well with lamb and pork. It's also a terrific cold, dry mountain weather makes the grapes struggle to obtain ripeness with the wines of ... More Ataide.
QUINTA DO ALTAÍDE DOURO RED 2017 ($26). This is one of Symington Estates wines from property in the Douro Superior, Ataíde in the Vilariça Valley that are uncharacteristically steeply terraced slopes that enjoy very cold winters and low rainfall, so the grapes have to struggle, especially in 2017. The grapes are not pumped but only crushed, then go through a maceration of pumping over. Winemakers Charles Symington and Pedro Correia blended organically farmed Quinta do Ataíde, Vilariça
Valley, 49% Touriga Franca, 48% Touriga Nacional and 3% Alicante Bouschet. There are some vegetal notes but a good deal of ripe fruit and, by now, subdued tannins, bottled in 2019. It is 14.5% alcohol.
