Vinho Verde () (literally 'green wine') refers to

Portuguese wine Portuguese wine was mostly introduced by the Romans and other ancient Mediterranean peoples who traded with local coastal populations, mainly in the South. In pre-Roman Gallaecia-Lusitania times, the native peoples only drank beer and were unfami ...

that originated in the historic Minho province 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 DOC, Doc, doc or DoC may refer to: In film and television * ''Doc'' (2001 TV series), a 2001–2004 PAX series * ''Doc'' (1975 TV series), a 1975–1976 CBS sitcom * "D.O.C." (''Lost''), a television episode * ''Doc'' (film), a 1971 Wester ...

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 Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

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 o ...

, or rosé, 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 Effervescence is the escape of gas from an aqueous solution and the foaming or fizzing that results from that release. The word effervescence is derived from the Latin verb ''fervere'' (to boil), preceded by the adverb ''ex''. It has the same lin ...

of the wine came from

malolactic fermentation Malolactic conversion (also known as malolactic fermentation or MLF) is a process in winemaking in which tart-tasting malic acid, naturally present in grape must, is converted to softer-tasting lactic acid. Malolactic fermentation is most often ...

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 A wine fault or defect is an unpleasant characteristic of a wine often resulting from poor winemaking practices or storage conditions, and leading to wine spoilage. Many of the compounds that cause wine faults are already naturally present in wine ...

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 lingu ...

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 Carbonation is the chemical reaction of carbon dioxide to give carbonates, bicarbonates, and carbonic acid. In chemistry, the term is sometimes used in place of carboxylation, which refers to the formation of carboxylic acids. In inorganic ch ...

.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 ''Telephone Poles'' is the second book of poetry written by American writer John Updike. Publication The collection was published by Alfred A. Knopf, Knopf in 1963. Reception In ''The New York Times'', critic X.J. Kennedy wrote, "Of younger w ...

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 flowers, fruits, stems, ...

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 Arinto or Arinto de Bucelas is a white Portuguese wine grape planted primarily in the Bucelas, Tejo and Vinho Verde regions. It can produce high acid wines with lemon notes. Synonyms Arinto is also known by the synonyms Arintho, Arintho du Dao, ...

, 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 reg ...

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 Monção () is a municipality in the district of Viana do Castelo in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 19,230, in an area of 211.31 km2. The current Mayor is the Social Democrat António Barbosa. The municipal holiday is March 12. Clima ...

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 rosés are very fresh and fruity, usually made from

Espadeiro Espadeiro is a red Portuguese wine grape planted primarily in the Minho region for making Vinho Verde. It is also grown across the border, in Galicia (Spain) where it is used to make light bodied wines.J. Robinson ''Jancis Robinson's Wine Co ...

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 in ...

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 and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...

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, ...

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,

Avesso Avesso is a white Portuguese wine grapeAvesso

Azal, Batoca, Loureiro, and Trajadura *Permitted white grapes: Branco-Escola, Cainho de Moreira, Cascal, Douradinha,

Esganinho Sercial is the name of a white grape grown in Portugal, especially on the island of Madeira. It has given name to the dryest of the four classic varieties of Madeira fortified wine.winepros.com.au. The grape is grown in diminishing quantities ...

, 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 Bairrada is a Portuguese wine region located in the Beira Litoral Province. The region has Portugal's highest wine classification as a ...

, Lameiro,

Rabigato Rabigato is a white Portuguese wine grape variety that is popularly grown in the Douro Region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physica ...

S. Mamede S is the nineteenth letter of the English alphabet. S may also refer to: History * an Anglo-Saxon charter's number in Peter Sawyer's, catalogue Language and linguistics * Long s (ſ), a form of the lower-case letter s formerly used where "s ...

and Semilão *Recommended red grapes: Amaral / Azal Tinto, Borraçal, Brancelho,

, Padeiro, Pedral,

Rabo de Ovelha Rabo de Ovelha (Portuguese for "Sheep's tail") is white Portuguese wine grape variety that is grown all over Portugal. It should not be confused with the red Rabo de Anho grape variety that is found in the Vinho Verde region. Rabo de Ovelha is an ...

and Vinhão *Permitted red grapes: Doçal, Doçal de Refóios,

Espadeiro Mole Espadeiro is a red Portuguese wine grape planted primarily in the Minho region for making Vinho Verde. It is also grown across the border, in Galicia (Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escud ...

, Labrusco, Mourisco, Pical Pôlho, Sousão and

Verdelho Tinto Verdelho is a white wine grape grown throughout Portugal, though most associated with the island of Madeira, and also gives its name to one of the four main types of Madeira wine. At the turn of the 20th century it was the most widely planted whi ...

. 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 Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of t ...

and

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 ...

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