Lemos And Van Zeller Tinto Quinta Vale D. Maria 2009

Winery: Lemos And Van Zeller

Region: Douro

The Douro valley in Portugal has long been one of Europe's most important and unique wine regions, with a history which stretches back over two thousand years to when Pheonician tradesmen and settlers first began planting grapevines in the rich and fertile soil found there. The region itself is something of an ideal location for viticulture, with mineral rich soils and plenty of moisture from the river, alongside long, baking hot summers which help the grapes reach full ripeness. Wineries in the Douro utilize a wide range of grape varietals for their distinctive and characterful wines, including red varietals such as Tinta Barroca, Tinta Roriz and Tinta Cao, and delightful white varietals such as Gouveio and the increasingly popular Viosinho. However, it is for the fortified wines of Porto which Douro is most famous for, and these are widely considered to be amongst the finest fortified wines in the world.

Country: Portugal

One of the oldest regions of Portugal for wine production and vine cultivation is the Bairrada, the lush and clay-rich region responsible for an impressive range of red, white and rosé wines of exceptional quality. As with much of the country, this region benefits from long, hot summers, allowing the grapes to ripen to full maturity and thus carry a wide range of flavors and aromas. However, each region of Portugal produces wines which reach a high level of quality, from the more urbanized regions around Lisbon and Porto, where the famous fortified and Colares wines originate, to the island of Madeira and the Dao river valley, which each have their own distinctive wine cultures. The several thousand years of viticultural history in Portugal has allowed Portuguese wineries to master their own traditional techniques, which are still employed to this day across the country, yielding excellent results for the world to enjoy.