Portugal is one of the traditional European wine countries. With each vintage if offers a wide range of fascinating high quality wines. To achieve this the country can rely on a number of assets.

1. Under the strong influence of the Atlantic Ocean a rich diversity of climatic conditions appears. The specific location of each wine region (in the north or in the south; near the coastline or further inland; protected by the mountains or not) then further determines the extent to which the cooling influence of the ocean plays its role
2. An equally important variation in geological conditions generates the presence of nearly all possible types of soil, thus offering the perfect base for the production of wines with ‘a sense of place’.
3. A unique collection of hundreds of indigenous grape varieties which are in many places represented by very old vines (80 to 100 years old vines not being an exception in the Douro valley). On top of that these old plantings were mostly made in the traditional manner, favouring ‘field blends’ over the more modern way of separating the varieties planted in different plots.

From the north to the south the most important regions are:
In the Minho province: DOC Vinho Verde
In Tras-os-Montes: DOC Douro and DOC Porto
In the Beiras province: DOC Dão and DOC Bairrada
In the Estremadura province: DOC Bucelas, DOC Colares, DOC Alenquer and others altough most wines are being sold as Vinho Regional Estremadura
In theAlentejo province: DOC Alentejo and Vinho Regional Alentejano
In Terras do Sado: DOC Moscatel de Setubal and DOC Palmela
On the isle of Madeira: DOC Madeira
Next to these you can find various other regions and DOCs, but they either hardly produce any wine today or the average quality of the wines does not stand up to an acceptable standard for them to be mentioned here.