- Regions
- Vinho Verde
Vinho Verde is a well-known DOC in the Minho region of northwestern Portugal. Each year it is responsible for vast quantities of straw-yellow, light-bodied, tangibly tart wines produced from many thousands of smallholdings throughout the region. And amid the wash of white wine is the faint glimmer of ruby-tinged red Vinho Verde, relatively hard to come by outside Portugal, but worth the effort.
Vinho Verde’s soils are mainly granite-based and sandy. There are some areas where schist or slate and clay predominate. Soils here tend to be high in acidity. The majority of the slopes in Vinho Verde are gentle, but some vineyards are planted on steep or terraced slopes.
The region’s proximity to the Atlantic Ocean accounts for its highly productive terroir. Rain-bearing winds blow in from the Atlantic, allowing yields to rise much higher than they can in drier, inland regions such as neighboring Transmontano. High rainfall and humid summers in this part of Portugal mean that fungal diseases are a perennial threat. The ventilation provided by the open, vertically trained vines partially help to counter this.
The wines made here are so fresh and youthful that they earn the classification verde (‘green’), which applies even to the reds. Although not sufficiently effervescent to be officially classed as sparkling wines, much white Vinho Verde has an obvious petulance. They are most often based on such classic Portuguese white-wine grapes as Arinto, Loureiro, Trajadura and Alvarinho. The tart, zingy reds employ the services of the Azal Tinto, Vinhão and Espadeiro vine varieties.
Light, fresh, young and delightfully aromatic, Vinho Verde suits to all kinds of occasion.
