Wines of Portugal: from the dry Douro to ports and madeiras
87 flasker, fra tør Douro til tawny portvin og madeiraDry reds cut out for the table, brisk, taut whites from altitude, ports and madeiras that cross the decades: that is what this range brings together, at prices that have stayed keen.
The thread follows two movements. The dry wines first, from the terraces of the Douro to the granite of the Dão, on to the freshness of the Minho and the warmth of the Alentejo, carried by Niepoort, Quinta do Vallado and Quinta de la Rosa. Then the fortified wines, ports from the valley and madeiras from the Atlantic, some of which spend forty years in barrel before bottling.
Antonio Madeira - Vinhas Velhas Branco 2023
A white wine from old vines in the Dão, chiseled and saline, which precisely expresses the granitic freshness of the Serra da Estrela.
Quinta da Romaneira - Sino da Romaneira 2020
A precise and harmonious Douro red, which combines the richness of indigenous grape varieties with contemporary elegance.
Quinta da Romaneira - Dona Clara 2019
A Douro red combining aromatic intensity, freshness and structure, true to the steep terroir of Quinta da Romaneira.
Quinta da Romaneira - Reserva White 2022
A great white wine from the Douro, combining mineral freshness, aromatic depth and gastronomic elegance.
Quinta da Romaneira - Três Parcelas 2019
A precise and structured Douro red, which combines the freshness of the mountain terroir with the depth of indigenous grape varieties.
Quinta da Romaneira - Reserva 2017
A great red from the Douro, intense, structured and elegant, which accurately expresses the character of the valley and its native grape varieties.
Quinta do Vallado - Porto Tawny 30 ans
A 20 year old Tawny Port, complex, aromatic and long in the mouth.
Casal da Coelheira - Terraços do Tejo Tinto 2021
An intense, elegant and spicy red wine
Quinta de la Rosa - Vintage Porto 2020
Aneto - Aneto S Colheita Tardia 2014
A great liqueur that combines complexity, elegance and freshness.
Quinta do Vallado - Porto Vintage 2020
The Rolls-Royce of Vallado
Quinta do Crasto - Flor de Crasto Blanc 2019
An aromatic and tasty white from the Douro Valley
Niepoort - Conciso Tinto 2013
A great Dão wine made from century-old vines!
Quinta de la Rosa - DouRosa 2022
A beautiful red wine from the Douro: complex, fresh and voluptuous at the same time.
Où pousse la vigne portugaise
The vineyard fits into a strip six hundred kilometres long, yet the climate changes every fifty: ocean to the west, mountains in the centre, scorching plain in the south, a volcanic island out at sea. Each region gives a clear-cut style.
| Région | Climat et sol | Cépages phares | Le style |
|---|---|---|---|
| Douro | Schiste feuilleté en terrasses, étés brûlants, nuits fraîches | Touriga nacional, touriga franca, tinta roriz, sousão | Rouges profonds et frais, et le portoVoir le rayon porto |
| Dão | Granite, high plateau sheltered by the mountains | Touriga nacional, jaen, alfrocheiro, encruzado | Rouges élancés, blancs ciselés, acidité naturelle |
| Bairrada | Argile et calcaire, air marin de l'Atlantique | Baga, bical, maria gomes | Rouges tanniques de garde, blancs et mousseux vifs |
| Minho, le Vinho Verde | Pluvieux et granitique, vignes conduites haut | Alvarinho, loureiro, avesso | Blancs légers et salins, parfois perlants |
| Beira Interior | Arrière-pays montagneux, granite et schiste, altitude | Jaen, rufete, siria | Rouges fins et frais, blancs tendus |
| Alentejo | Varm slette i syd, ler, granit og skifer | Alicante bouschet, trincadeira, aragonez | Rouges pleins et mûrs, à la texture large |
| MadèreVulkansk ø ud for fastlandet | Basalte, humidité océanique, cultures en terrasses | Sercial, verdelho, boal, malvasia, tinta negra | Opvarmede, salte vine med en sjælden holdbarhed |
Ruby, tawny, LBV ou vintage, ce que la mention annonce
Every port begins with the same gesture: fermentation is stopped with a grape spirit, which leaves sugar in the bottle and takes the alcohol to around 20%. What follows sets them apart, depending on whether the ageing happens away from air or in contact with oxygen.
| Le style | L'élevage | Au goût | Quand l'ouvrir |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ruby | Deux à trois ans en cuve, à l'abri de l'air | Cerise noire, cassis, tanin jeune, sucre net | Dès l'achat, sur un dessert au chocolat |
| Tawny with an age indication | Dix, vingt ou trente ans en petit fût | Noisette, caramel, figue sèche, couleur ambrée | Chilled, at around 14 °C, with a walnut tart |
| LBV, Late Bottled Vintage | Fire til seks år på store fade, fra én enkelt høst | Le fruit d'un vintage, déjà assoupli | Prêt à servir, sur un fromage bleu |
| Vintage | Deux ans en foudre, la garde se poursuit en bouteille | Dense, tannique, fruits noirs, longue réserve devant lui | Après dix ans de cave, carafé, sur un gibier |
| Colheita | En tawny fra én enkelt høst, lagret længe på fad | Rancio, écorce d'orange, fruits confits | At the end of the meal, with a dried-fruit dessert |
| Porto blanc | Hvide druer fra Douro, kort lagring | Agrumes, fleur blanche, sucre discret | Very cold as an aperitif, or topped up with sparkling water |
The houses in the range cover that whole palette: Quinta do Vallado runs from white port to thirty-year-old tawny, Quinta de la Rosa works with LBV and vintage, Fonseca is one of the valley’s historic names. It is all gathered on the Port page.
A bottle for every mood
Eight ways into this section, from a first granite red to a Madeira of great maturity.
Discovering the Dão at a small price
En rødvin fra granit i højden, kirsebær og peber, med fine tanniner. Den mest direkte måde at forstå, hvad landets midte giver.
Quinta Das Maias Tinto 2022 · 12,51 € la bouteille, à l'unitéA lively white for the aperitif
Loureiro from the Minho, lime and white flowers, light in alcohol. Serve it very cold with shellfish or a summer fry of small fish.
Niepoort Vinho Verde Dócil 2025 · 12,90 € la bouteille, à l'unitéLe Douro sec au quotidien
Touriga Franca og Touriga Nacional på skifer: mørk frugt, lakrids, polerede tanniner. Hverdagsrødvinen til grillet kød.
Quinta do Vallado Tinto 2022 · 14,85 € la bouteille, à l'unitéLe grand blanc de gastronomie
The encruzado of the Dão in its purest form: pear, almond, a saline and taut finish. For a baked fish or a poultry dish.
Quinta dos Roques Encruzado 2020 · 23,31 € la bouteille, à l'unitéA Port for the end of the meal
Ten years in small barrel: hazelnut, caramel and dried fig, amber colour. To be served chilled with a dried-fruit tart.
Quinta do Vallado Porto Tawny 10 ans · 32,40 € la bouteille, à l'unitéGetting into the world of Madeira
The sweetest style of the island, caramel and orange zest, lifted by a saline acidity. The bottle keeps for months once opened.
Blandy's Madère Malmsey 5 ans · 29,90 € la bouteille, par lot de 3Følg portvinens spor
Ruby, aged tawny, LBV, vintage and white Port: the page brings together the Douro houses and explains how to find your way.
Udvalgets side · PortvinEn vin, der overlever et århundrede
Deliberately heated then oxidised, madeiras age for decades and keep once opened. Dry sercial, sweet malvasia, it is all there.
Udvalgets side · Madeira
Le même coteau donne le porto et le grand rouge sec
The Douro was demarcated in 1756, the first vineyard in the world to be given official boundaries, and for two centuries it worked for one thing alone: Port. The schist terraces, cut by hand into the slope above the river, produced a fortified wine destined for the British export trade.
The shift dates from the 1990s. A few houses set aside their best plots for reds fermented right through, and the world discovered that this schist also gave deep, fresh table wines. Today the same vine, often the same row, goes into one vat or the other depending on the vintage.
Comment on choisit
We taste every cuvée before listing it, and two things matter in this section. Freshness first: a Portuguese red that slides towards jam stays in the cloakroom, even from a great name. Then length, especially on the fortified wines, where the finish has to stay saline rather than sweet.
Holdet bag Le Baroudeur du Vin
What you ask us about the wines of Portugal
Hvad er forskellen på en portvin og en tør rødvin fra Douro?
The two often come from the same grape varieties, on the same schist terraces. For Port, the fermentation is stopped with a wine spirit: sugar remains and the alcohol rises to around 20% abv. The dry red ferments right through, comes in at about 14% abv and is drunk at the table, with meat or a slow-cooked dish.
Ruby ou tawny, lequel choisir ?
The ruby keeps the colour and the fruit of a young wine, aged away from the air: black cherry, blackcurrant, tannin still present. The tawny ages in small barrel in contact with oxygen, takes on an amber hue and notes of hazelnut, caramel and dried fig. The first calls for chocolate, the second for dried fruit and mature cheeses.
Hvor længe holder en portvin efter åbning?
It depends on the family. A tawny or a colheita, already used to oxygen during its ageing, holds several weeks re-corked in the fridge. A vintage is drunk within two days, since it has just spent its life in bottle away from the air. Madeira beats everything, holding for months after opening.
Pourquoi le madère se conserve-t-il aussi bien ?
Because it deliberately undergoes what wears other wines out. The wine is fortified, then heated at length, in a coil for the everyday cuvées or under the roof for the great lots, where the heat of the island works the barrel for years. Cooked and oxidised in advance, it becomes stable: a bottle from the last century is still alive.
Quels cépages portugais faut-il connaître ?
Til rødvin giver Touriga Nacional struktur og en duft af violer, Touriga Franca finesse, Tinta Roriz fylde, Sousão syre, Baga fra Bairrada tanniner med lagringspotentiale og Jaen fra Dão blødhed. Til hvidvin skal du huske Alvarinho fra Minho, salt og præcis, og Encruzado fra Dão, den mest madvenlige af dem alle.
Hvad er Vinho Verde egentlig?
A young wine from the Minho, the damp, granite province of the north-west. The name refers to a region, not a colour: white, red and rosé are all made there. The usual style stays light, low in alcohol, with a touch of spritz. The alvarinho cuvées from Monção gain in density and age very well.
Pourquoi certaines bouteilles partent-elles par lot ou par caisse ?
Several Portuguese estates ship by full case, and we keep that format to hold the price down. The price shown on each listing is the bottle price, with the sales format right beside it. A good part of the range is still available by the single bottle, notably from Quinta do Vallado, Quinta Das Maias and Quinta dos Roques.
Which dishes should you serve with a Portuguese red?
Douro reds stand up to grilled red meat, lamb and slow-cooked dishes seasoned with bay. Those from the Dão, more slender, prefer roast poultry, pork and mushrooms. The Alentejo, fleshier, goes with stews and sheep’s cheeses. Serve them at around 16 °C.
What temperature should ports and madeiras be served at?
Allow 8–10 °C for a white port or a dry sercial madeira, served as an aperitif. A tawny is better chilled, at around 14 °C, which tightens its sweetness. A vintage or an LBV is served at 16 or 17 °C, the former decanted, as it throws a heavy deposit.