Douro

The borders of the Duoro region, named after the river that flows through it, in Portugal were defined in 1756 by the prime minister at the time, Marquis de Pombal (1699-1782), in order to protect the authenticity of port wine. This makes it one of the oldest protected regions of origin in the world. It referred only to port wines for more than two centuries, and was later classified as a DOC region. The classification was only extended to unfortified table wines in 1979. Factors that have contributed to this development have been the red table wines, particualrly the famous "Barca Velha", created by the Ferreira estate in the 1950's, but also the "Redomo" by Niepoort and the "Grande Escolha" by Quinta do Côtto. In fact, this is a double appellation, where "Duoro" means "normal wine, and "Porto e Duoro" means port wine. Of the total vineyard area of 40.000 hectares, 33.000 hectares are slate soils reserved for the production of port wine, the remaining 7.000 hectares are granitic soils used for the production of table wines. Depending on the quality of a vintage, around half the production from the port wine zones is also processed as unfortified table wine. The grape varieties are practically the same as for port (see there). The recommended varieties must make up a minimum of 60% of the blend. Wines produced from grape varieties that are not permitted are marketed as country wines (vinho regionale) under the Duriense designation. Many estates produce both port and table wines. For well-known producers see under port wines.