Portuguese varieties 🍇

With over 250 native grape varieties, it’s like Pokémon for wine lovers—gotta taste ’em all! The same grape can have different names in different regions, and each one shows off its own unique personality, thanks to terroir. It’s like meeting twins who couldn’t be more different—one’s spicy, one’s smooth!  

Touriga Nacional

The big boss! Bold, muscular, and intense. It brings violets,dark fruit, spice, and a bit of elegance, making it the star of many top Portuguese wines. Originally used in Port wines, nowadays is featured in single-varietal and blend wines. Mainly planted in the Douro Valley and Lisboa.

Alvarinho

Picture a bright, breezy day at the beach. Alvarinho is fresh, citrusy, and saline. It pairs exceptionally with fish! It is mainly grown in Vinho Verde and Tejo.

Baga

Tough on the outside, soft on the inside! High in tannins and acidity at first, which gives us the opportunity to age the wine between 5-15 years. With age, it softens and becomes smooth and complex developing amazing cocoa and black plum aromas. Used in Bairrada.

Arinto

Arinto is all about freshness, with zippy acidity and bright lemony and grapefruit flavors. It’s the grape that produces exceptional, age-worthy whites. Mostly used in Vinho Verde, Alentejo and Tejo.

Tinta Roriz (aka Tempranillo)

The jetsetter of grapes! With roots in Spain (where it’s called Tempranillo), this grape is like your globetrotting friend who’s always hopping from one country to another. It’s versatile, bringing balance and complexity to both red and fortified wines. Tinta Roriz has an amazing aging potential (10-30 years). We can find it in the Douro Valley.

Fernão Pires 

This white grape is super aromatic—floral, fruity, and a bit over-the-top. It’s like someone who walks into the room wearing a strong perfume and grabs everyone’s attention. Fernão Pires doesn’t do subtle, with aromas such as lime, peach, orange blossom and honeysuckle, it will stand out! Very precious production in Beira Atlantico, Lisboa, Transmontano and Tejo.

Trincadeira (Alentejo) or Tinta Amarela (Douro Valley)

Trincadeira can be temperamental (it doesn’t always ripen fully), but when it’s good, it’s REALLY good. It produces red wines with bright acidity, low alcohol, red fruit flavors, spicy and herby notes. Totally worth the occasional mood swings!

 Touriga Franca

Touriga Franca is like the reliable, laid-back sibling of Touriga Nacional. Less intense but still full of character, firm but velvety tannins, it brings soft floral notes and ripe berries. Produced mainly in the Douro Valley and Transmontano.  

Sousão, also known as Vinhão (the name depends on the region). 

The goth grape—dark, inky, and intense. Sousão is a teinturier variety, meaning both its skin and flesh are red. This gives it a huge advantage in Port production, as it's perfect for adding intensity to blends. Originally from Vinho Verde, it's now widely used in the Douro Valley!

These are just some of the main varieties—I can’t talk about all 250+, or you’d be reading for years, and I’d turn into a skeleton still typing away!

Cheers! 🥂