Help an Ignorant Fellow - Wines from Portugal?

I was surprised to see so many folks choose Portugal on that thread about restricting wine to “one country” (other than the biggies). I know of, and have had, Porto, Madeira and Avarhino, but beyond that I don’t remember having wines from Portugal, except maybe vinho verde and Mateus from way back when. I will read up on the subject a bit, but I would also welcome some recommendations for a few Portuguese wines to start sampling. The more specific and descriptive the more helpful it will be to me. I am interested in modestly priced table wines, both red and white. Thanks.

Tomas costa is a great board member to talk to here.

how do i tag levi dalton and jesse salazar for this thread?

Oh boy. Where do I start? I became a wine lover solely on domestic wines, and continue to happily discover wines from Portugal’s c. 1200 different registered producers, across various (and varied) regions. What I have deduced from drinking wines from other countries is that the sense of novelty I experience from them is likely to be reciprocal. Meaning, Portuguese wines are also preferably thought of as their own thing, a singular expression of its native varietals and terroirs, rather than an off the radar substitute for other stuff. This is especially important since Portugal, with a few very honorable exceptions, mostly draws from its own portfolio of native varietals rather than the varietals which will be familiar to most wine consumers from elsewhere.

There are always some parallels to be drawn, though, so given the variety I find it difficult to recommend stuff to people without having a solid idea of what they already like (and dislike). If someone tells me they mostly drink ‘full bodied reds’, they will find the Douro and especially the Alentejo to be very happy, easy and affordable playgrounds. If they prefer a bit more restraint, the Dão and Bairrada are more likely to appeal more consistently, but there are producers in the Douro (Niepoort, Luís Seabra, Rita Marques) and the Alentejo (António Maçanita, Susana Esteban, Miguel Louro and his eponymous son) that will certainly appeal to them. Someone who likes funky, quirky wines will enjoy exploring Colares, or whites from Casal Figueira (what they have done with the Vital grape is brilliant) or Quinta da Serradinha. If you like fortified wines, the story doesn’t actually end with Port and Madeira, as I have had brilliant examples of Moscatel de Setúbal and Carcavelos.

Really, the choice is pretty huge, and will most likely depend on what you can source where you live, with the caveat that there is an unfortunate bias in other markets to see Portugal as a good value, ‘New World in the Old World’ wine producer, rather than the producer of wines in a myriad of styles and prices from its own myriad native varietals - just like the other major European countries.

I’m with Tomas. Where to start?!
Which styles of wine do you currently like? Portugal does just about all of them and very well.
Figure out which styles you like, then go to the different regions which do those styles. Portugal has at least the number of climates as France, maybe more. They also have a huge number of interesting grape varieties.

Yea, this stuff is great, but definitely find some with time on them. The 1960s bottling date excellent (1960, 65 and 69).

Keith, link your article!

Shout out to Tomás
In addition to his post on here, Tomás got in touch with me via PM and generously offered his help. He looked over the Portuguese wine available at a couple of my go-to wine places, including my local wine store, and gave me some suggestions. What was especially helpful was that he also put the suggestions in context of region, grape variety, wine-maker, etc. that was extremely useful (and educational!) by itself. Obviously an expert, but not pedantic at all, he even suggested a few “fun” comparisons. Certainly beyond anything I expected and probably even beyond anything that I could imagine.
Thank you very much, Tomás!

Tomas’s presence here is like opening a graciously bound, informative encyclopedia. I’ll give him a second ‘Huzzah!’

Don’t make me , you guys! I’m the one who’s here to learn - it’s why I joined - but if there’s any degree of give and take or reciprocity that I can manage, I’m all too happy for it.

I’ll second that on Tomas’ presence on here. Very helpful and knowledgeable.

I recently had this and posted about it:

Great value for $20 CAD. It’s obviously it’s own thing but the best parallel I can think of would be a traditionally styled Rioja (minus the american oak) or a maturing right bank bordeaux. Lovely stuff and helps topple the notion that Tomas said well ‘New World in the Old World’. I think if you avoid the mass produced and widely distributed stuff there is plenty to discover.

That is awesome Jim.

You know who would be a great guy to reach out to is Mark Squires - seriously. The man knows Portugal and has been covering the country for a very long time.

Cheers.