The history of Portuguese wine has been influenced by Portugal's relative isolationism in the world's wine market, with the one notable exception of its relationship with the British.J. Robinson (ed) "The Oxford Companion to Wine" Third Edition pp. 536–540 Oxford University Press 2006 Wine has been made in Portugal since at least 2000 BC when the Tartessians planted vines in the Southern Sado and Tagus valleys. By the 10th century BC, the Phoenicians had arrived and introduced new grape varieties and winemaking techniques to the area. Up until this point, viticulture was mostly centered on the southern coastal areas of Portugal. In later centuries, the Ancient Greeks, Celts and Romans would do much to spread viticulture and winemaking further north.Gourmet Girl "The wines of Portugal" Gourmet Girl Magazine, Accessed: 6 December 2009
Portuguese wines were first shipped to England in the 12th century from the Entre Douro e Minho region (which today includes modern Portuguese wine regions such as the douro and vinho verde). In 1386, Portugal and England signed the Treaty of Windsor which fostered close diplomatic relations between the two countries and opened the door for extensive trade opportunities. Portuguese wine production increased fivefold between the late 17th century and early 18th century due to a boom in demand within Portugal, its overseas possessions, and Britain. The 1703 Methuen Treaty furthered advanced English economic interest in Portugal by reducing tariffs and giving Portuguese wines preferential treatment in the British wine market over French wines. Around this time, the fortified wine known as port was increasing in popularity in Britain. The lucrative trade in Port prompted the Portuguese authorities to establish one of the world's first protected designation of origin when Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, Marquis of Pombal established boundaries and regulations for the production of authentic Port from the Douro in 1756.
For centuries afterwards, Portuguese wines came to be associated with Port (and to some extent Madeira which was a popular drink of British colonies around the globe, such as the American colonies.) In the mid-to-late 20th century, sweet, slightly sparkling rosé brands from Portugal (Mateus and Lancers being the most notable) became immensely popular around the globe-with the British wine market again leading the way.A. Bespaloff Complete Guide to Wine, pp. 178–182 Penguin Books 1994 In the mid-1980s, Portugal's introduction to the European Union brought a flood of financing and grants to the stagnant Portuguese wine industry. These new investments paved the way for upgrades in winemaking technology and facilities. Renewed interest in the abundance of unique Portuguese wine grape varieties shifted focus to more premium wine production with a portfolio of unique dry red and white wines being marketed on a global scale.
Early history
Viticulture has existed on the Iberian Peninsula (home to modern day Spain and Portugal ) for thousands of years. The Tartessians are believed to have cultivated the first vineyards in the Tagus vineyards around 2000 BC. When the Phoenicians reached the area in the 10th century BC, they brought with them grape varieties and winemaking techniques from the Middle East and Carthage.R. Phillips A Short History of Wine, pp. 32, 66, 129–139, 187–198 Harper Collins 2000 The Ancient Greeks settlers of the 7th century BC, furthered the advance of viticulture in Southern Portugal and left evidence of their influence. In the area around the modern day town of Alcácer do Sal, archeologists have uncovered numerous pieces of cratera or Greek vases used to dilute wine with water with gives evidence of the Greeks drinking local Portuguese wine.Corks and Forks "Portuguese wine " Accessed: 6 December 2009
When the Romans reached Portugal, they named the area Lusitania after Lusus, the son of the Roman god of wine Bacchus. As they did before in Italy, France, Germany and Spain, the Romans did much to expand and promote viticulture in their settlements in Portugal. Wines were produced across the territory for both local consumption as well as export to Rome. Vineyards extended further north and inland, being firmly established in places such as Douro by the end of Roman rule. Following the Fall of the Roman Empire, local barbarian tribes sustained the tradition and practice of viticulture in the area. In the mid-9th century AD, Ordoño the Gothic king of Asturias (in what is now northern Spain) granted vineyards and landowning privileges around Coimbra to a monastic Christian order in the area. While most historian's accounts of the history of wine following Roman rules suggest that the Christian Church took the lead in preserving viticulture across the former Roman empire, the evidence suggest that, at least in Portugal, the ruling authorities played an important role.
Relationship with England
The climatic condition in England of a cool weather country has made the country unfavorable for viticulture, making the country a ready market for imported wines; its proximity to France, made French wines a natural source. At times the supply was threatened by political and military conflicts between the English and French crowns. New sources had to be found such as the wines of Portugal. Documents exist detailing Portuguese wine shipments from the Minho region to England occurring as early as the 12th century. These wines, including those from the wet northern region of modern-day Vinho Verde, were often light and astringent with noticeable acidity. Despite the new source, the variety of French wines (particularly those of Bordeaux) for English wine drinkers prevailed.
In 1386, the Portuguese and English signed the Treaty of Windsor. The pact of mutual support fostered a strong diplomatic alliance between the two countries (and was still valid and applicable as of 2009). Over the ensuing centuries, whenever England was in conflict with other European powers (most notably France), Portugal and its many vineyards were there to fill in the gap caused by the disruption of trade. Portuguese wine also served as a bargaining chip in English politics. In 1679, the English Parliament banned all imports of French wine as a means of limiting the tariff income of Charles II and forcing him to come to Parliament and ask them directly for funds. Charles and the English wine merchants turned again to Portugal, dramatically increasing imports of Portuguese wines from 427 tuns in 1678 to averaging over 14,000 tuns (roughly equivalent to 16 million liters or over 4 million US gallons) a year by 1685. However, it is very likely that not all these imported tuns were truly Portuguese wines, as some wine merchants found their way around the French wine embargo by shipping their wares in Portuguese wine barrels with forged documentation.
While the English wine market was lucrative, the relationship was essentially monopolistic with the vast majority of control in the hands of the English wine merchants. Portuguese growers and wine producers had little other avenues for trade with other countries and thus prices were largely dictated by the English. The 1703 Metheun Treaty further promoted English interest in Portuguese wines. The treaty established a system of preferential tariffs for Portuguese wine, at the expense of wines from other countries. It specifies that the tariffs for Portuguese wine should never be more than two-thirds that of which was levied on French wines. At the time, the levy on French wines was roughly equivalent to £20 a barrel with the levies on Portuguese wines dropping to around £7 a barrel. By 1717, Portuguese wines accounted for more than 66% of all wine imported into England, while French wines imports shrank to a mere 4%.
During this period, fortified Portuguese wines such as Port and Madeira were increasing in popularity in the English/British market. In the Atlantic, the Portuguese controlled island of Madeira was a vital trading stop to British colonies in the New World and beyond. The process of fortification was discovered to enhance the flavor and stability of wines on these long sea voyages. Madeira wine became particularly popular in the American colonies, with an established market that continued to thrive even after the colonies gained independence from Great Britain.
The rise of Port
Of all the wines most closely associated with Portugal, and most reflective of the immense influence that the British have had on the Portuguese wine industry, it is Port. So close is the relationship that wine writer Karen MacNeil notes "If Portugal is the mother of Port, Britain is certainly its father".K. MacNeil The Wine Bible, pp. 480–509 Workman Publishing 2001 While there are many theories as to the origin of the fortified wine known as Port, one of the most prevalent is that of the 1678 visit by English wine merchants to a monastery in the Portuguese town of Lamego located along the Douro river. In search of new wines to ship back to England, the merchants came across an abbot in Lamego who was producing a style of wine that the merchants had never encountered before. While fortification of wine had been known for centuries, the fortifying grape spirit was usually added after fermentation, when the wine was already fermented dry. The abbot of Lamego was fortifying his wine during fermentation, which had the effect of killing off the active yeast cells and leaving the wine with high levels of residual sugar. This method produced a very strong, alcoholic wine with noticeable levels of sweetness that was very successful in the English wine market.
In 1693, amidst another conflict with the French, King William III of England imposed punitive levels of taxation on French wine imports. This very high level of taxation, drove even more English wine merchants to the Douro. The popularity of Port, or "blackstrap" as it was sometimes known because of its dark color and astringency, continued to increase when the War of the Spanish Succession essentially severed all trade in French wine among the English. With that rising popularity also came an increase in wine fraud and adulteration. Less than scrupulous producers were adding sugar and elderberry juice to the wine to increase alcohol content and enhance color more cheaply. Various spices such as black pepper, cinnamon and ginger were added to give the wine additional flavors. Grapes grown in other regions of Portugal and even Spain were trucked into Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia to be misrepresented as authentic Port from the Douro. As news of the scandal spread, sales and imports of Port wine in England dropped dramatically. Imports dropped from a high 116,000 hectoliters (over 3 million US gallons) in 1728 to 54,900 hectoliters (around 1.45 million US gallons) in 1756. Worse still for the Port producers was the precipitous drop in pricing.
After the scandal
The economic turmoil as well as growing complaints and dissatisfaction over the business dealings of the British caused the Marquis of Pombal, in 1756, to create the Douro Wine Company to regulate the Port wine trade.H. Johnson Vintage: The Story of Wine, pp. 226–229, 325–328 Simon and Schuster 1989 One of the company's first regulations was the delineation of the Douro wine region as the only sanction area that could produce wine labeled and sold as "Port". This 1756 declaration made the Douro region, one of the world's oldest established appellations. The aim of the organization was to supervise the production of Port in all stages of winemaking from harvesting to winemaking to aging and finally shipping. In addition to their supervisory role, the organization also sought to remove the temptation for fraud by ordering that all elderberry plants in the Douro be ripped out.