The Douro Valley is the oldest established wine region in the world, dating back to 1756. It was first renown for its Port production. However, from a tourism perspective, it has only been popular for the past couple of decades, after being declared as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2001.

The Douro Valley region is no longer just know for its Port, but also for an increasing number of dry red wines often made from the same native grape varieties. A much smaller number of quality white wines are also now produced.

The viticultural zone covers the steep slopes along the banks of the lower ranges of the Douro River. The river flows from northern Spain, where it is called the Duero. The river finally reaches the Atlantic Ocean at Oporto. The vineyards stretch up the steep, dry slopes on either side of the river.

There are three subregions in the Douro, each covering its own section of the river.  Of these, the Douro Superior region is the furthest inland. It is covered in terraced vineyards and takes up about 20 percent of available vineyard land in Douro.

The central part of the Douro region, centered around the village of Pinhão, is the Cima Corgo region. It is where most of the prestigious Vintage Port originates from.

Cima Corgo is the largest subregion, accounting for almost half of the valley’s total wine production. The vineyards are steep with the vines nearer the river generally ripening much earlier than those at higher elevations. For this reason, the harvest is often completed in multiple sweeps of the same vineyard.

Nearest Oporto and the coast is the Baixo Corgo subregion. This area is best suited to produce table wines. The area is cooler and wetter than the other regions and more accessible, easily enabling bulk-wine operations to function.

Both the Douro’s still and fortified wines can be made from more than 80 different grape varieties. However, the vineyards are dominated by five key varieties: Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Barroca, Tinto Cao and Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo). Of these, aromatic Touriga Nacional is the most highly regarded, but Touriga Franca is the most planted.

As recently as twenty years ago, Portugal produced very little quality still wine. However, since then it has become world renowned not only for Port but also for its DOC Douro still wines

There are several international varieties of grapes grown in the Douro valley, particularly to produce table wines. The most common of these are Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc and Gewürztraminer.

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