Vinho Verde () (literally 'green wine') refers to Portuguese wine that originated in the historic

Minho province Minho () was a former province in Portugal, established in 1936 and dissolved in 1976. It consisted of 23 municipalities, with its capital in the city of Braga. Today, the area would include the districts of Braga and Viana do Castelo. Minho h ...

in the far north of the country. The modern-day 'Vinho Verde' region, originally designated in 1908, includes the old Minho province plus adjacent areas to the south. In 1976, the old province was dissolved. Vinho Verde is not a grape variety, it is a DOC for the production of wine. The name means "green wine," but translates as "young wine", with wine being released three to six months after the grapes are harvested. They may be red,

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, or

rosé A rosé () is a type of wine that incorporates some of the color from the grape skins, but not enough to qualify it as a red wine. It may be the oldest known type of wine, as it is the most straightforward to make with the skin contact method ...

, and they are usually consumed soon after bottling. A Vinho Verde can also be a sparkling, a Late Harvest or even Brandy. In its early years of production, the slight effervesce of the wine came from malolactic fermentation taking place in the bottle. In

winemaking Winemaking or vinification is the production of wine, starting with the selection of the fruit, its fermentation into alcohol, and the bottling of the finished liquid. The history of wine-making stretches over millennia. The science of wine and ...

this is usually considered a wine fault but Vinho Verde producers found that consumers liked the slightly fizzy nature. However, the wines had to be packaged in

opaque Opacity or opaque may refer to: * Impediments to (especially, visible) light: ** Opacities, absorption coefficients ** Opacity (optics), property or degree of blocking the transmission of light * Metaphors derived from literal optics: ** In lingui ...

bottles to hide the unseemly

turbidity Turbidity is the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid caused by large numbers of individual particles that are generally invisible to the naked eye, similar to smoke in air. The measurement of turbidity is a key test of water quality. Fluids ...

and sediment that the "in-bottle MLF" produced. Today, most Vinho Verde producers no longer follow this practice with the slight sparkle being added by artificial carbonation.R. Boulton, V. Singleton, L. Bisson, R. Kunkee ''Principles and Practices of Winemaking'' pgs 251-253 Springer 1996 New York The region is characterized by its many small growers, which numbered around 19,000 as of 2014. Many of these growers used to

train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often ...

their vines high off the ground, up trees, fences, and even telephone poles so that they could cultivate

vegetable Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the edible flower, flowers, ...

crops below the vines that their families may use as a food source.T. Stevenson ''"The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia"'' pg 333 Dorling Kindersley 2005

Styles

The majority of the wines classified as Vinho Verde are white, but the region is also known for the production of red and rose wines. The white Vinho Verde is very fresh, due to its natural acidity, with fruity and floral aromas that depend on the grape variety. The white wines are lemon- or straw-coloured, around 8.5 to 11% alcohol, and are made from local grape varieties Loureiro, Arinto, Trajadura,

Avesso Avesso is a white Portuguese wine grapeAvesso

Azal. At less than one bar of CO₂ pressure, they do not quite qualify as

semi-sparkling wines Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it, making it fizzy. While the phrase commonly refers to champagne, European Union countries legally reserve that term for products exclusively produced in the Champagne re ...

but are nonetheless slightly sparkling. The red and rose Vinho Verde wines are much less common than the white ones. That is caused mainly by the region's climatic conditions with its relatively cool temperatures and high level of rainfall that make it impossible for the red wine grapes to ripen. The Vinho Verde red wines usually have red color and a fruity flavor with the tasting notes of pepper, peony, and sour plum. Vinho Verde rose wines are also not very common, they have a slightly pink or intense color and red berries flavor. Vinho Alvarinho is made from Alvarinho grapes, from a designated subregion of Monção and Melgaço. It has more alcohol (11.5 to 14%) and ripe tropical aromas. The reds are deep red and tannic, and are mostly made from Vinhão, Borraçal and Amaral grapes. The

s are very fresh and fruity, usually made from Espadeiro and Padeiro grapes.

History

The Romans

Seneca the Younger Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger (; 65 AD), usually known mononymously as Seneca, was a Stoic philosopher of Ancient Rome, a statesman, dramatist, and, in one work, satirist, from the post-Augustan age of Latin literature. Seneca was born ...

and

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...

both made reference to vines in the area between the rivers Douro and Minho. A record exists of a winery being donated to the Alpendurada convent in

Marco de Canaveses Marco de Canaveses () is a city and municipality on Porto district, in northern Portugal. The population in 2011 was 53,450, in an area of 201.89 km². The city itself had a population of 9,042 in 2001. Geography The city of Marco Canaves ...

in 870 AD, and the vineyards seem to have expanded over the following centuries, planted by religious orders and encouraged by tax breaks. Wines were mostly produced for domestic consumption, although Vinho Verde may have been exported in the 12th century, to England, Germany, and Flanders. The first definite exports to England are recorded by John Croft as taking place in 1788. The arrival of

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American English, North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous ...

in the 16th century left a distinctive stamp on

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for '' vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of '' Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, r ...

in the region. To maximize production of maize, new regulations banished vines to the field margins, where they would be draped over trees and hedges, forcing the vignerons to pick them from tall ladders. Today, you can find some examples of vines trained by the old methods, but most of the Vinho Verde Region is now using modern methods, which give larger and better yield. The "Vinho Verde Region" was demarcated by the law of September 18, 1908 and a decree of October 1 of the same year. The regulations controlling production were largely set in 1926, with recognition as a Denominação de Origem Controlada (DOC) in 1984. The DOC is overseen by the ''Comissão de Viticultura da Região dos Vinhos Verdes'' ("Wine Commission of the Vinho Verde Region"). Currently, nearly 21,000 hectares of vineyards are planted, making up 9% of the total in Portugal. There are around 19,000 producers, down from 72,590 in 1981. Around 600 bottlers in the region produce 85 million liters of wine each year. 86% of the wine from Vinho Verde is white.

Subregions

The Vinho Verde DOC is divided into nine subregions, which may be indicated on the wine label together with the name of Vinho Verde, for example as Vinho Verde-Amarante.Official Journal of the European Union C 187/1, 8.8.2009: List of quality wines produced in specified regions
(reflects situation as of July 31, 2009) The subregions are: Amarante, Ave, Baião, Basto, Cávado, Lima, Monção e Melgaço, Paiva, and Sousa.

Grapes

The grape varieties recommended or permitted for the DOC are as follows: *Recommended white grapes: Alvarinho, Arinto,

Avesso Avesso is a white Portuguese wine grapeAvesso

Azal, Batoca, Loureiro, and Trajadura *Permitted white grapes: Branco-Escola, Cainho de Moreira, Cascal, Douradinha, Esganinho, Esganoso de Castelo de Paiva, Esganoso de Lima,

Fernão Pires Fernão Pires is a white Portuguese wine grape grown throughout Portugal, especially in the Tejo and Bairrada, where it is also known as "Maria Gomes". This variety is known to produce wines with a spicy aromatic character,Lameiro, Rabigato, S. Mamede and Semilão *Recommended red grapes: Amaral / Azal Tinto, Borraçal, Brancelho, Espadeiro, Padeiro, Pedral, Rabo de Ovelha and Vinhão *Permitted red grapes: Doçal, Doçal de Refóios, Espadeiro Mole, Labrusco, Mourisco, Pical Pôlho, Sousão and Verdelho Tinto. The two most successful white wine varieties are Alvarinho and Loureiro. Alvarinho tends to produce low yields and can reach much higher alcohol levels. The grape is widely planted in the northern Minho between the Lima Valley and Spanish border. Loureiro produces higher yields but very aromatic wines. The most successful red wine grape has been Vinhão, followed by Amaral / Azal Tinto and Espadeiro. These grapes can produce wines with deep purple coloring and peppery notes.

References

External links

vinhoverde.pt
Official website of the Comissão de Viticultura da região dos vinhos verdes
Vinho Verde
Artigo de referência sobre este vinho {{coord missing, Portugal Appellations Wine regions of Portugal Portuguese wine