Touriga Nacional
Portugal’s flagship red. Small, thick-skinned berries give low yields but intense aroma and structure. It is a backbone of Port and of top Douro and Dão reds, and works both in blends and on its own.
Wines made with Touriga Nacional
Producers to try
Taylor’s
Est. 1692One of the oldest Port houses, part of The Fladgate Partnership. Its Quinta de Vargellas in the Douro Superior anchors famous Vintage Ports. Credited with launching the first modern Late Bottled Vintage.
Fonseca
A Fladgate Partnership house known for rich, opulent Vintage Ports and the popular Bin 27 Reserve.
Graham’s
Est. 1820A Symington family house famous for rich Vintage Ports and fine aged Tawnies. Quinta dos Malvedos is its home vineyard.
Quinta do Noval
Est. 1715A single estate above the Pinhão valley. Its Nacional Vintage Port comes from a small plot of ungrafted vines and is one of the rarest wines in the world.
Ramos Pinto
Est. 1880Known for its Quinta da Ervamoira in the Côa valley and for influential 1980s research into the Douro’s best grape varieties. Also famous for its early-20th-century poster art.
Casa Ferreirinha
Est. 1751The house of A.A. Ferreira, linked to Dona Antónia Ferreira, the 19th-century businesswoman who shaped the Douro. Makes Barca Velha, first released in 1952, Portugal’s most legendary dry red. Part of Sogrape.
Quinta do Crasto
A family estate above the river known for old-vine field blends such as Vinha Maria Teresa and Vinha da Ponte, and for a famous infinity pool view of the valley.
Quinta do Vale Meão
The last great estate built by Dona Antónia Ferreira, and for decades the source of Barca Velha. Its own red is one of the Douro’s benchmarks.
Quinta do Vallado
A historic family estate near Régua, once owned by Dona Antónia Ferreira, now known for modern dry reds and whites and a wine hotel.
Symington Family Estates
The family company behind Graham’s, Dow’s, Warre’s and Cockburn’s Port. It also makes Douro wines, including the good-value Altano and, with the Prats family of Bordeaux, Chryseia.
Sogrape
Est. 1942Portugal’s largest family-owned wine company, founded to make Mateus Rosé. Today it owns Casa Ferreirinha, Sandeman, Quinta dos Carvalhais in the Dão and estates in Vinho Verde and the Alentejo.
Valle Pradinhos
A historic family estate in the northeast making reds and whites with real local character, at the cool edge of Trás-os-Montes.
Quinta dos Roques
A family estate that helped lead the Dão’s quality revival with single-variety Encruzado and Touriga Nacional.
Quinta da Pellada (Álvaro Castro)
Álvaro Castro’s estates at the foot of the Serra da Estrela make some of the Dão’s most celebrated, finely balanced wines.
Casa da Passarella
A historic estate in the Serra da Estrela foothills, revived in the 2000s and known for wines from old field-blend vineyards.
Quinta dos Carvalhais
Sogrape’s Dão estate, home of the long-running Duque de Viseu brand and fine single-variety wines.
Buçaco Palace Hotel
The neo-Manueline palace hotel in the Buçaco forest has made its own legendary, very long-lived red and white wines for over a century, traditionally served only at its own hotels.
Quinta dos Termos
A leading Beira Interior estate working with local grapes such as Síria, Fonte Cal and Rufete on high granite slopes.
Quinta de Chocapalha
A family estate in the Alenquer hills. Winemaker Sandra Tavares da Silva also co-founded Wine & Soul in the Douro.
Quinta do Monte d’Oiro
Known for elegant Syrah planted from Rhône cuttings, as well as Viognier and Touriga Nacional.
Quinta da Lagoalva
A large historic family estate known for good-value Tejo reds and whites, and for its horses.
Herdade da Malhadinha Nova
A family estate in the Baixo Alentejo combining wine, farming and hospitality, with organic vineyards.
Domingos Alves de Sousa
A family estate in the Baixo Corgo whose Quinta da Gaivosa helped lead the Douro’s move from Port to unfortified wine in the early 1990s. Domingos Alves de Sousa runs it with his son Tiago, who makes the wines.