Lagos

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• Markedly Mediterranean climate: hot, dry, and low in wind, with average sunshine exceeding 3,000 hours per year.
• A mountain barrier shields the vineyards from cold northerly winds; vines grow in a south-facing amphitheatre.
• Dominant soils: lithosols derived from sandstones, Silves sandstone formations, psamitic regosols, and Mediterranean raña soils.
• Vines planted on stony, low-fertility soils with a north–south row orientation and Atlantic maritime influence.
• Higher relative humidity and greater diurnal temperature variation than the rest of the Algarve; harvests generally later in the season.

• Official recognition of the quality of Algarvian wines since 1980; the CVA was established in 1994 and renamed in 2010.
• Unbroken winemaking tradition: during the Moorish occupation vines were planted and wine was exported; Christians continued the practice after the Reconquista.

• Whites range from citrine to pale straw, delicate and soft with a mineral edge; ruby reds evolve toward topaz, showing velvety texture and fruit character.
• Reds are light-bodied and slightly acidic; to qualify for a quality designation, they must display marked structure and aromatic and gustative balance (≥70 points).

• The hot, dry Mediterranean climate (>3,000 sunshine hours per year) yields whites with minerality and robust, fruit-forward, light-bodied reds.

Facts drawn from the cahier's terroir-link section (Lien au terroir) by automatic interpretation — see the the caderno de especificações.

Sources

• eAmbrosia register (EU) — File number PDO-PT-A1454
• Official trade body site — Comissão Vitivinícola do Algarve