The Douro wine region is located in Portugal along the Douro River, from the Spanish border to about 55 miles of the city of Porto. The vineyard area was legally defined in 1756, making it one of the oldest delimitated regions in the world. Its unique landscape features steep hills where vines are planted on terraces along the river, maximizing sun exposure where native red grapes thrive. These distinctive growing conditions, along with a winemaking history of more than 2,000 years, have gained Douro Valley the distinction as an UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Douro Valley is best known for producing the world-famous fortified wine Port, but still table wines have been gaining popularity in the last decade. Most of the wines are blends of native red grapes Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca, along with Tinta Roriz (the Portuguese name for Tempranillo), and Alicante Bouschet among others. Douro red wines tend to have aromas of ripe black fruit, cocoa, and licorice, with structured tannins and full body. The preferred grapes for white wines are Gouveio, Rabigato, and Malvasia Fina.
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Author: Maytte Rivera
