The best wines from Estremadura in Portugal

Estremadura is the wine region on the Atlantic coast, directly above Lisbon. In the past synonymous with uninteresting white bulk wine from large cooperatives, nowadays there are quite a few small winemakers who make excellent wines. Often from unknown, local grapes.

There are many more, but the most important DOCs of Estremadura are Bucelas, Colares and Carcavelos.

Bucelas

Directly above Lisbon, barely 20 kilometres away, lies the small wine region of Bucelas. At the end of the last century, the vineyards had almost completely disappeared. There are now about 300 hectares again. Mainly planted with white grapes.

The Arinto grape is the most important and must comprise at least 75 percent of a blend from Bucelas. The Arinto is a quality grape with refined acids, which produces fresh-dry wines. The best are among the best white wines of Portugal. The winemakers put Velho on the label of the better white wines from Bucelas. In the top years, they make Garrafeira. These can often mature in wooden barrels for years before being bottled.

Colares and Carcavelos

In Colares, right on the Atlantic coast, striking, tannic and slightly salty wines are made from the Ramisco grape. And white from Malvasia. The vineyards lie on a thick layer of sand, sometimes more than five metres deep. The roots of the vines have to penetrate this to find their food in the clay layer below. They are held upright with bamboo poles to prevent them from lying on the ground. It is precisely because of this thick layer of sand that it is one of the few European wine regions that was not affected by phylloxera in the nineteenth century.

Only a handful of winemakers are still active in Carcavelos. They make characteristic, somewhat nutty aperitif wines.