The wines

In the demarcated region of Douro we can find two great types of wines: Port wine and Douro wine.

The Port wine is a liqueur wine that is distinguished by its enormous richness and intensity of incomparable flavours, very high tenacity of flavours and aromas, high content of alcohol (19 to 22 % vol.) in a wide scale of sweetness and colours.

The Port wines can be divided in two categories according to its ageing process.

• Tawny style – wines in which we search to sustain the evolution of its red colour, more or less intense, and keep the fruity flavour and the young wines force. Encompasses the categories of Ruby, Reserve, Late Bottled Vintage (LBV) and Vintage.
• Estilo Tawny - obtained by stocking of wines from variable degree of maturation, throughout the ageing in casks or barrels. Wines in which the colour presents evolution and the flavours remember dry fruits and wood. The categories existent are: Tawny, Tawny Reserve, and Tawny with age indication (10 years, 20 years, 30 years and 40 years) and Harvest. When the wines are bottled they are ready to be consumed.

Douro wines

These wines are produced from autochthonous varieties like Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca and Tinto Cão (red) or Malvasia Fina, Viosinho, Gouveio and Rabigato (white). The wines great majority results from an allotment of various varieties, with a unique complexity and richness that inflicts a profile characteristic from Douro.

The white wines are a good accompaniment of fish dishes, salads, but can be also drunk as aperitifs and must be consumed between the 8º and 10º degrees. The red wines have great colour deepness and complex and intense flavours. When this wines are young it’s very common arise dark fruit notes, chocolate, balsamic, violet and wood notes, being in that way wines of great structure and with persistent tannins. One significant part of the guard wines produced in the Douro present in the label the designation of Reserve or Great Reserve.

The rosé wines are produced throughout red grapes slight maceration, present a beautiful pink colour and lush young flavours of raspberry, cherry and candy. They must be consumed while young (1 to 2 years) and served lightly fresh, between 10º and 12º degrees.

With less expression than the other ones, we can also find, mainly in higher areas, products with specific characteristics like Douro Muscat, Douro Sparkling and new wine (wine from the last harvest) , as well as the Late Harvest, done with over ripening grapes by the noble rottenness action.