By Sam Gugino

Several years ago, I wrote that the Portuguese wine industry was a sleeping giant. Well, the giant has awakened.

While it is most recognized for its fortified Ports and Madeiras, in the June 30, 2005 issue of Wine Spectator, Kim Marcus wrote that the nation “has emerged from the shadows to become one of the most interesting and exciting red wine regions in the world today.” Though small geographically (it is roughly the size of Indiana), Portugal is the world’s tenth-largest wine producer, ahead of countries such as Chile and New Zealand.

Elegant Wines That Can Age
A recent leap forward has come with the 2001 vintage, which produced a number of outstanding wines including the Touriga Nacional Douro from Quinta do Crasto. In Wine Spectator’s ratings, it earned unheard-of numbers for a Portuguese wine in price ($100) and scoring (96 points on a 100-point scale).

Quinta do Crasto is a Port estate along the Douro river, which traverses northern Portugal from Spain to the Atlantic Ocean and where much of the innovation and improvement is coming from in Portuguese wines. “Douro table reds have been made for years, the same way as Port. The wines had heavy extraction and the fruit usually went before the tannins, just as Barolo’s did,” says Rupert Symington, joint managing director for Symington Family Estates, producer of well-known Ports such as Dow’s and Graham’s. “But in 1998 there was an excess of production and people said, ‘Let’s make elegant wines that can age,’ essentially, unfortified Ports.”

The grapes used for Douro table wines are the same as those used for Port—Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo in Spain), Touriga Francesa, Tinta Barroca and Tinto Cao. These varietals tend to produce rich, dark and tannic wines, much like Port. “There are no wimpy wines in the Douro,” says Symington.

As has been the case with many emerging wine regions, Portuguese producers have brought in consultants from other countries. Symington engaged the services of Bruno Prats from Cos d’Estournel in Bordeaux. Crasto is introducing a wine that is a joint venture with Jean-Michel Cazes of Chateau Lynch-Bages.

Invest in Native Varietals
While the powerful but elegant Prats & Symington 2003 Douro Chryseia sells for $35 to $40, Symington believes Portugal’s best chance in table wine is not to go too high or too low. “In the past, Portuguese have competed on price,” he said. “Today, with EU regulations, we can’t produce wine as cheaply as the Languedoc or Chile. So we’re pricing our table wines in the $10 to $20 category where Spain has been successful.”

Tarcisio Costa, who owns Alfama, a New York restaurant with 114 wines on an exclusively Portuguese list, adds that the wines should “make a statement with quality and authenticity by investing in native varietals. That’s what the Portuguese do best.”

If Symington’s smooth 2003 Quinta de Roriz is any indication, table wines from the Douro are on the right track. Other Douro producers to look for are Quinta do Fojo, Niepoort, Ramos-Pinto (Duas Quintas), Caves Alicanca, Casa Ferreirinha (Barca Velha), Quinta de la Rosa, Quinta de Ventozelo, Encostas do Douro, Silva & Cosens and Lavradores de Feitoria.

The Douro is not the only region that produces quality red wines. Thirty miles south is the Dao region, where leading producers include Quinta dos Carvalhais (owned by Portugal’s largest wine company, Sogrape), Casa de Santar, Quinta das Maias and Quinta dos Roques. Better Dao wines may be designated as Dao nobre. Bairrada is the western neighbor of the Dao, where the primary grape is the tannic and acidic Baga. Luis Pato and Quinta do Carvalhinho are two of the better producers in the region. The majority of Portugal’s sparkling wines also come from Bairrada.

The country’s largest red wine region is Alentejo in south central Portugal. Two of Alentejo’s leading wine estates are Cortes De Cima and Quinta do Carmo, the latter owned by Domaines Barons de Rothschild, which also owns Chateau Lafite-Rothschild. While native grapes, Periquita, Aragonez (another name for Tempranillo) and Trincadeira Preta are the primary varieties used in the region, Quinta do Carmo also uses Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah.

For the most part, Portuguese white wines lag behind reds. The best known white is Vinho Verde (“green wine”) a young (hence the name) light and crisp wine made in the northwest. While Vinho Verde can be made with several varietals, better versions are being produced with the Alvarinho grape, the Portuguese counterpart to Albarino in Spain’s Galicia region just over the border.

Old-World, New-World Conflict
Martin Sinkoff of Pasternak Wine Imports, which brings in Quinta do Carmo, sees similarities between the development of Portuguese wines and those of Spain. “Portugal is going through what Spain did, an old world and new world conflict,” he says. “The new-world wine industry is being revolutionized by young people who have studied all over the globe and think things can be done a different way.”

As for the future? Adds Sinkoff, “There’s no reason why Portugal can’t take a place next to Spain as a major supplier of fine wine.”

Sam Gugino is Taste columnist for Wine Spectator and author of Low-Fat Cooking to Beat the Clock.