Douro Fine wine

Home to dramatic terraced vineyards and centuries-old winemaking tradition, the Douro Valley sits along the Douro River some 60 miles east of Porto. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the valley gives rise to some of Portugal’s most remarkable wines, most notably its rich, ageworthy Ports.

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While Port may have a reputation for being wheeled out every Christmas with the Stilton, the variety of different styles available means that this is a fortified wine that merits year-round consideration. The category spans vintage to tawny, colheita to single-quinta. All have varying degrees of sweetness, and also vary hugely in their character, from rich and raisiny to light and racy, providing options for enjoying as an aperitif, with cheese, with dessert, or even as a dessert.

Of almost equal renown today are the Douro’s exceptional dry reds and whites – many of them produced by the big Port houses. On the Douro’s famously steep terraces, producers such as Niepoort, Quinta do Noval and Symington Family Estates craft complex, ageworthy wines from the same native varieties used to make the region’s famous fortified wine. These wines reflect the region’s schist soils and native grape varieties – Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz and others – offering intensity, elegance and longevity. In contrast to Port, however, they are fully dry

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2012 Quinta do Noval

1985 Dow's

2007 Fonseca

2003 Fonseca

Styles of Port

There are several different styles of Port, which vary hugely in intensity and flavour. The richest, purest of these, is Vintage Port. The product of a specific year, and made only in years when houses choose to ‘declare’ a vintage, it is aged briefly in barrel then matured in bottle for several years, sometimes decades, to develop beguiling complexity. At the other end of the scale is Ruby Port, aged only briefly to accentuate the wine’s freshness and fruit. In between are a range of different options. Late Bottled Vintage (LBV) Port heralds from a single vintage, and is aged for 4–6 years in barrel for a smoother, more mature character than Ruby. Tawny Port, most often bottled with an age statement of 10, 20, 30 or 40 years, is aged in smaller oak casks for extended periods, developing a nutty, dried-fruit, oxidative character along the way. A Colheita, meanwhile, is a Tawny from a single vintage aged in oak for at least 7 years, and also offering those rich, nutty dried fruit notes, but with a vintage-specific character. A Single Quinta Port is made from an estate’s best grapes, usually in non-declared vintage years, and combines the depth of Vintage Port with the character of a specific vineyard. And don’t forget white Port, a supremely refreshing option made from white grapes, and delicious chilled (or in cocktails)

Douro wine FAQs

How is Port made?

Port is a fortified wine made only in the Douro, primarily from such grapes as Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca. Grapes are crushed by machine (although foot-treading is still undertaken by a handful of producers) and fermentation is halted early (at around 5-6%) by adding high-strength grape spirit, usually brandy. This process preserves sweetness and raises the alcohol to around 20%. Ageing then varies according to the style required. Ruby Ports age briefly in inert vessels for a fruit-forward rendering; Tawny ports mature oxidatively in large oak casks, gaining nut, caramel, and dried fruit notes; Vintage Port, from exceptional years, ages briefly in cask, then in bottle for decades. Each style reflects a blend of terroir, tradition and technique, offering a rich, structured and ageworthy expression of the region.

Are the red wines of the Douro similar to Port?

While Douro red wines and Port share the same dramatic landscape and native grape varieties, such as Touriga Nacional and Tinta Roriz, they differ significantly in style and winemaking. Port is a fortified, sweet wine made by adding spirit to halt fermentation, resulting in high alcohol and residual sugar. In contrast, Douro reds are dry, with full fermentation, showcasing structure, dark fruit and freshness. Both can be powerful and ageworthy, reflecting the Douro’s rugged terroir, but the red wines are crafted for balance and food pairing rather than sweetness. In that way, they have more in common with the red wines of Napa Valley or Mendoza than they do with the fortified wines of their region.

Douro wine producers

The Douro is one of the wine world’s most historic regions, and producers here can trace their heritage back centuries – often to British origins. Fifth generation Symington Family Estates own the largest vineyard area in the Douro, giving rise to such Port houses as Graham’s, Dow’s and Warre’s. Its great rival Taylor Fladgate, meanwhile, counts Taylor’s, Fonseca and Croft among its Port portfolio. But other producers also have deep roots – Niepoort was founded in the Douro in 1842, and today crafts both dry red and white wines alongside classic Ports, as does Quinta do Noval, whose history dates back a further century.