In October we have twice been in the Douro Valley. In this wonderfully beautiful region in northern Portugal, some of Portugal’s, even the world’s, most interesting wines are made. That they make both dry wines and port wines here makes a visit to the Douro even more exciting.
The producers are very fond and proud of their ports. But it is a long process to make a high-quality port. The dry wines (“table wines”) can be released on the market faster. And besides, there are locations and microclimates in the valley that are better suited to dry wines than to port.
On one of our trips, we visited a small producer called Quinta do Poeira. The winemaker is the talented Jorge Moreira. It was something of an adventure to get there (this is often the case in the Douro Valley) but it was well worth it. Poeira focuses on very high-quality dry wines, red and white.
Look for the beautiful and very fresh red Poeira (~30 euros) made from old vines grown on a north-facing vineyard. The grapes are foot trodden in the traditional Portuguese way and aged for 16 months in small French oak barrels. Worth looking for also, Pó de Poeira(~20 euros) from younger grapes, and the two whites, Poeira Branco and Pó de Poeira Branco, both made from alvarinho.
