Doña Blanca (Spanish "White Lady", also known as Dona Branca in Portuguese) is a white

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

and

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

grape variety This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, currant, sultana). For a complete list of all grape species including those unimportant to agriculture, see Viti ...

that is grown primarily in the northwest Galicia region of

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and throughout

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

from the

Douro The Douro (, , ; es, Duero ; la, Durius) is the highest-flow river of the Iberian Peninsula. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province, central Spain, meanders south briefly then flows generally west through the north-west part of ...

northward. The variety is a permitted grape in the Spanish '' Denominación de Origens'' (DOs) of

Valdeorras Valdeorras is a comarca in the Galician Province of Ourense. The overall population of this local region is 25,500 (2019). Municipalities *O Barco de Valdeorras, capital of the comarca *O Bolo *Carballeda de Valdeorras *Larouco * Petín * A ...

and

Monterrei Monterrei ( es, Monterrey, label= Castilian) is a municipality located in the Province of Ourense in the Galicia region of north-west Spain. Monterrey is well known for its Castle, built in the 10th century. The Mexican city of Monterrey was ...

in Galicia and

Bierzo El Bierzo (; ; gl, O Bierzo) is a ''comarca'' in the province of León, Spain. Its capital is the town of Ponferrada. Other major towns are Bembibre and Villafranca del Bierzo, the historical capital. The territory of El Bierzo includes m ...

in nearby

Castile and León Castile and León ( es, Castilla y León ; ast-leo, Castiella y Llión ; gl, Castela e León ) is an autonomous community in northwestern Spain. It was created in 1983, eight years after the end of the Francoist regime, by the merging of the ...

. In Spain, the variety is known as Doña Blanca (except in Valdeorras, where it is primarily known as Valenciana), while in Portugal it goes mainly by the name Doña Branca. The grapes have thick skins, which do well in the wet

maritime climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...

, but it can also impart some astringency and slight bitterness even with the briefest of

skin contact Maceration is the winemaking process where the phenolic materials of the grape—tannins, coloring agents (anthocyanins) and flavor compounds—are leached from the grape skins, seeds and stems into the must. To macerate is to soften by soaking, ...

during production due to the high proportion of

polyphenols in the skin The phenolic content in wine refers to the phenolic compounds— natural phenol and polyphenols—in wine, which include a large group of several hundred chemical compounds that affect the taste, color and mouthfeel of wine. These compounds includ ...

.J. Robinson ''Jancis Robinson's Guide to Wine Grapes'' pg 64 Oxford University Press 1996

Synonyms

Various synonyms have been used to describe Doña Blanca and its wines including Alvaro de Soire, Alvaro de Sousa, Boal, Boal Cachudo, Colhao de Gallo, Dame Blanche, Doña Branca, Graciolo, Graciosa, Graziolo, Malvasia Branca, Malvasia Grosso, Moza Fresca, Santo Estevao, Valenciana, Voal Cachudo and Voal Esparrapado.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doña Blanca Spanish wine Grape varieties of Spain White wine grape varieties