Vinhão

Say it: veen-YOWNG

A red-fleshed grape known as Vinhão in the Vinho Verde region, where it makes the traditional inky red, and as Sousão in the Douro, where a little adds colour and acidity to Port.

In the glassOpaque purple, sour blackberry, very high acidity.

Wines made with Vinhão

Port

Fortified

Vinho do Porto

Sweet fortified wine from the Douro. Fermentation is stopped part-way by adding grape spirit (aguardente), which keeps natural grape sugar and lifts alcohol to roughly 19–22%. Grapes are still trodden by foot in granite lagares at some quintas. Traditionally the young wine was shipped downriver and aged in lodges in Vila Nova de Gaia, opposite Porto.

Critics: up to 99 pts

Vinho Verde (red)

Red

Vinho Verde Tinto · Vinhão

Inky purple, tart and fizzy red made mostly from Vinhão. An acquired taste outside the Minho, it is traditionally poured into white porcelain bowls (malgas) that stain purple.

Douro Red

Red

Douro DOC Tinto

Dry reds from the same terraces as Port: dense, floral and structured, with a stony freshness from schist soils. Barca Velha, first made in 1952, showed what was possible; since the 1990s Douro reds have become some of Europe’s most admired, especially from old field-blend vineyards.

Critics: up to 97 pts

Producers to try

Quinta do Vallado

Peso da Régua · Douro

A historic family estate near Régua, once owned by Dona Antónia Ferreira, now known for modern dry reds and whites and a wine hotel.