Torres Vedras
Styles
Principal grape varieties
ViosinhoVitalMalvasia Rei (Palomino Fino)SyrahSeara NovaCabernet-SauvignonCamarateArintoRabo De OvelhaTrincadeiraAlvarinhoFernao PiresSauvignonCastelaoAntao VazAragonez (Tempranillo Tinto)Alicante Bouschet (Alicante Henri Bouschet)Alicante Branco (Planta Fina)CaladocTouriga FrancaTouriga NacionalChardonnayTinta BarrocaJaen (Mencia)Tinta Miuda (Graciano)
The Portuguese regulator (IVV) does not distinguish principal vs accessory varieties — every authorised casta is listed together in the caderno de especificações.
Terroir
Natural factors
- The Torres Vedras wine region presents rugged terrain, extending into an area of gentle relief down to the floodplains along the nearby watercourses.
- Soils are predominantly clay-limestone, brown and red, of the Mediterranean brown and red argillic type.
- Soil texture ranges from clayey to clay-sandy and loamy throughout the Torres Vedras wine region.
Human factors
- The winemaking tradition dates back at least to Roman colonisation, with the region having been chosen as a privileged zone for vine cultivation, a status that has endured to the present day.
- Exports of these wines to the Orient, France, and England appear to have begun as early as the fourteenth century, a moment many chroniclers identify as the starting point of Portuguese wine exports, with the opening of external markets driving an expansion of the vineyard area at the expense of uncultivated land.
Product characteristics
- Torres Vedras white wines are fruity and aromatic, displaying a freshness of flavour and a certain acidity that reflects the Atlantic influence.
- The red wines are garnet and browning garnet in colour, with an intense vinous aroma and some astringency in youth, gaining softness and elegance with ageing.
Terroir / wine link
- The region's climate shows Mediterranean characteristics with Atlantic influence, reflected in the freshness and slight acidity of the white wines.
Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the specification (caderno de especificações).
About this boundary · approximate area
Approximate area — the union of the administrative units named in the document (Eurostat GISCO or national cadastre boundaries).
Locality(ies) with no polygon of their own, drawn as the administrative unit that holds them: Campelos → União das freguesias de Campelos e Outeiro da Cabeça.
Administrative unit(s) the document includes only in part, drawn whole: Carvoeira, Freiria, Matacães, São Pedro e Santiago, Santa Maria do Castelo, São Miguel, São Mamede da Ventosa, São Mamede, Turcifal, A dos Cunhados, Campelos, Maxial, Monte Redondo, Ponte do Rol, Ramalhal, São Pedro da Cadeira, Silveira (Torres Vedras); Sobral da Abelheira, Encarnação, Enxara do Bispo, Gradil, Vila Franca do Rosário, Santo Isidoro (Mafra); Sapataria, São Salvador, Santo Quintino (Sobral de Monte Agraço).
Sources
- eAmbrosia register (EU) — File number PDO-PT-A1465
- Official trade body site — Comissão Vitivinícola da Região de Lisboa
Open Wine Map