Estremadura has a long history in national viticulture. This region’s vine area is made up of traditional grape varieties and the most famous international ones. Estremadura’s diversity of relief and microclimates enables the region to produce a great variety of wines.

Formerly known as West, Estremadura is located north west of Lisbon, occupying an area of about 40 km. The climate is mild due to Atlantic influence. Summers are fresh and winters soft, though colder in areas farther from the sea.

Although the region has good potential for the production of quality wines, about fifteen years ago it was essentially known for producing large quantities of low quality wine. Since then, the vines and wineries have been restructured. One of the restructuring steps involved planting new grape varieties, chosen according to quality, not quantity. Today, Estremadura’s wines are known for their good quality/price ratio

The region focused on the growing of the noblest Portuguese and foreign grape varieties. In 1993, a new type of wine was created: the Vinho Regional da Estremadura (free translation: Estremadura Regional Wine). This new type of wine encouraged producers to study the potential of the different grape varieties and, currently, most wines produced in Estremadura are regional (the law for DOC wines is very restrictive on the use of grape varieties).

Estremadura is made up of nine Denominations of Origin: Colares, Carcavelos and Bucelas (in the south, near Lisbon), Alenquer, Arruda, Torres Vedras, Lourinha and Obidos (in the centre of the region) and Encostas d’Aire (in the north, close to the Beiras region).

Extract from Infovini Copyright © 2008 Infovini

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