On-Ramp to... Portugal!

Our monthly, budget-friendly 6 pack to drink your way through a region!

Comically, Portugal is always a region waiting for its due, Joe will tell you that for years people have been saying "this is going to be Portugal's year". We'll often talk about the stupendous value proposition that Portugal offers, maybe too often... it’s more important to note that, like the rest of Southern Europe, wine production in Portugal goes back thousands of years, wine culture is deeply ingrained in its national identity, autochthonous grape varieties and diverse privileged terroirs abound, as well as very fine wines. If you haven't yet explored the wines of Portugal, you owe it to yourself to dive in soon.

Maybe you want to read more in 2026, in that case, buckle down, you've got some important material ahead of you!

Quinta da Raza Alvarinho 2024 (Vinho Verde)

For as plentiful and well-known as Vinho Verde is, it’s unique to remember the region sees some of the highest rainfall of any wine region in Portugal (and also, Europe! 1500mm annually!). Lots of viticulture in the Minho region is adapted for this purpose. Vines are trained high off the ground in service of rot reduction and optimal airflow. As the largest DO producer in Portugal, quality may vary as the nearly 17,250 growers combat the challenges of the maritime environment differently. With lots of options, comes stiff competition at great value.

Enter: Quinta da Raza Alvarinho. Across four centuries in the heart of the region, this wine rips with acidity. It’s in the category of white wines that feel like refreshment and replenishment over alcohol. Like most Alvarinho, this wine reminds me of the glorious watery last sips of a Margarita: lime, salt, orange, and summer. Chase the January Blues away and sip this while binge watching The White Lotus.

-- Callie

Filipa Pato Baga (Bairrada)

There is nary a list we construct where Filipa Pato’s wines are not present. In this case, they are possibly one of the best representations of what Bairrada past and present is converging towards. Thanks in no small part to the Pato family, Baga has had quite the reputational shift in Portugal in the late 20th century. Often likened as “Portugal’s Nebbiolo”, the grape retains high acidity, high tannins and a lovely mix of red and black fruits. Due to the astringency in youth, the grape was often grown in high yields which lacked fruit concentration and lent acidity to a blend.

As technological advances allow for better grape monitoring, farmers could better align Baga as a late ripening grape that needs time, south facing slopes and the hallmark limestone-clay soils of Bairrada to provide the golden ratio of water retention and drainage. In typical vinifications of the grape, stem inclusion is common in the ferment to add loads of structure to take this years into the future. Pato turns this adage around by creating ‘Dinamica’, a style true to it’s word utilizing 100% destemmed fruit, long maceration but light extraction to give you a buoyantly fresh wine. Red flowers, ripe plums, cranberries and a joyful zing makes this wine a companion for damn near any weeknight meal. Drink up to the wines made for the present!

-- Callie

Tapada de Coelheiros ‘Coelheiros’ Tinto 2022

Tapada de Coelheiros is an 800 hectare estate in the sprawling Alentejo, Portugal’s largest wine region. Their entire property is certified organic, including their olives, walnuts, woods and 1,300 sheep, only 53 hectares are devoted to vines. Their winery is modern, and their wines are squeaky clean, pristine fruit notes abound. They grow some international grapes (Cab and Syrah), but their entry-level red is pure Portuguese grapes, 50% Touriga Nacional and 50% Touriga Franca, aged in used 500L barrels, it’s all about beautiful dark fruit and complex Touriga Nacional aromas of violets and herbs. Touriga Nacional, by the way, is a grape that should be much more widely planted worldwide; if Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec can make it in the world, Touriga Nacional can too.

-- JPK

Freire Lobo Granite Tinto (Dao)

So beautifully structured, so aromatically complex, the wines of the Dao deserve

far more words than this write-up allows for. But hey, let’s try anyway… The Dao, named for a small river, is a wide valley in central Portugal pretty much cocooned by mountains that protect the region from the climate extremes of Atlantic humidity and continental Iberian heat. The bedrock is granite, topped with shallow, sandy soils. It’s an area that’s heavily forested with pine and eucalyptus—hints of which are very evident in the sensory profiles of many of the wines.

When it comes to the Dao, the operative word is small, both in vineyard plantings and estate size. From its inception as a DOC in 1908 throughout most of the 20th

Century, these holdings were herded into state-run winemaking co-operative monopolies that lasted until Portuguese entry into the European Union in 1986.

Since then, the Dao’s terroir/sense of place has been rediscovered, even spawning the nickname “The Burgundy of Southern Europe”. If you’re ever looking to tweak some Burgundian sensibilities, feel free to now label Burgundy as the “Dao of Northern France”.

Ha.

Elisa Freire Lobo began her career in 1996, working and studying at the estimable

Caves de Sao Joao (a co-op that helped keep the Dao alive during the dark years) in neighboring Bairrada. She followed up her tenure there with stints alongside greats like Anselmo Mendes and Alvaro Castro before taking over her family property in 2010. Farming organically, she employs cover crops of grass and legumes (which are grazed by sheep) in order to stimulate biodiversity and long-term vine health.

The Vigno Granite Terroir is a hand-harvested, traditional field blend of the powerful and aromatic Touriga Nacional, Alfrocheiro, Jaen (Mencia), Tinta Roriz

(Tempranillo), Baga (the queen of Bairrada), Bastardo (Trousseau) and the

wonderful Rufete. Each variety contributes to the extent that the whole is greater

than the sum of the parts. The wine is subtly oaked, richly fruited, spicy-but-smooth, wrapped in a savory warmth that feels like a comforting hug. We tasted this a few weeks ago and I couldn’t believe how great it was. Five years beyond the vintage with lots of life ahead, so no need to rush.

The Dao is the embodiment of all that is great about Portuguese wine: an exciting

mixture of indigenous grape varieties, diverse terroir and young, talented growers

that respect tradition while looking towards the future.

--Joe

Lavradores de Feitoria Branco (Douro)

The breathtakingly beautiful Douro Valley of inland northeast Portugal was the first region in the wine world to be demarcated and regulated (for Port production) in 1756. Winding and vertiginous, bordered by the Marao and Montemuro mountains to the west and Spain to the east, the Douro is divided into three sub- regions; from west to east, these are the Baixo (Lower) Corgo, the Cima (Upper) Corgo, and the drier, warmer Douro Superior. It is from this trio of savagely landscaped schist soils that the 15 member collective winery, Lavradores de Feitoria exists. Begun in 2000, as the region’s focus began to shift from solely Port production, these farmers cultivate and contribute grapes that exhibit the diversity and potential of the Douro as a world-class source of fine table wine. 

The climate of the Valley has been described as 9 months of winter and 3 months of hell but you’d never guess that from the bright, acidic wash of this humble white. A favorite of mine over several vintages, Lavrdored de Feitoria's branco is a blend of Malvasia Fina (the Boal of Madeira), Gouveio (Verdelho) and Siria (Roupeiro) from 20 year-old vines. The grapes are hand-harvested and vinified completely in stainless steel tanks with an emphasis on freshness. There are aromas of pear and bright lemon; the palate shows a clean precision of flavor with an underlying structure that’s more serious and enchanting than the price would indicate. Makes a great companion to sea bass, salmon, cod (of course) and preparations that incorporate chickpeas, almonds or olives.

Douro whites are where it’s at in 2026!

--Joe

Quinta do Vallado Tinto (Douro) 2022

The Douro is best known for Port, a fortified wine, but Port is really an invention of the British, as sugar and fortification helped to preserve wines in shipping. As far back as Port’s inception, connoisseurs both English and Portuguese decried the adulteration of the fine Douro wines, as the character of the wines was completely changed. Treatment of wines destined for the English market with spirits and other additives was not unique to those shipped from Portugal, many wines from France would have been treated the same way, but the practice of fortification persisted in the Douro, and a culture of fine fortified wines that age magnificently grew over time, and, alongside Sherry, Port became the most famous fortified wine in the world. Today, hardly anyone drinks the stuff, and in the Douro there has been a huge revival in table wine production. The vast majority (85%) of Quinta do Vallado’s production is unfortified, with a range of table wines, white, pink and red, that place them as leaders in the region. Their 2023 Douro Tinto is a blend of Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional, and Tinta Roriz, and it’s a gorgeous interpretation of fresh Douro red, with pure fruit at the fore, intriguing spice and herbal tones, and fine-grained tannins. This will be worth following for a few years, there should be more unfortified Douro in local cellars…

-- JPK

Since there’s always gonna be something extra that we want to include in our On Ramp selection, maybe something divisive, like Port, or something a little too expensive, like vintage Port, we’ll offer an add-on or two each month… This one's not included in the On Ramp pack unless you ask for it specifically.

Quinta do Infantado Porto 2013 (Douro)

Not especially sweet for Port, Quinta do Infantado specializes in a style that is more elegant and fresh, with lower sugar levels. They're one of the only Portuguese owned Port houses left, and all of their vineyards are certified organic. Infantado really flies under the radar, especially because Port just isn't trendy these days. Their 2013 is beautiful, redolent of jam bubbling away, wild herbs, cocoa powder and baking spices, it's in a great spot right now, but you could age it another 20 years if you’re inclined to do so. Serve this with Stilton, dried fruit and nuts. Only 6116 bottles were made.

--JPK