Everything you should know before tasting your way through Portugal's greenest wine region.
Vinho Verde — literally "green wine" — is one of the most misunderstood wines in Europe. It is not a single grape, not always white, and not actually green. It is a DOC region in the rainy, hilly north-west of Portugal that produces some of the most distinctive wines in the world.
The region. Vinho Verde stretches from the Douro valley up to the Spanish border, covering nine sub-regions. Casa do Sol sits inside one of the most beautiful — Basto, in the eastern, hillier part of the DOC, where altitude and granite soils give the wines a brightness you don't find elsewhere.
The grapes. White Vinho Verde is most often made from Alvarinho, Loureiro, Arinto, Trajadura, or Avesso. Reds (yes, they exist) use Vinhão. Look for single-varietal Alvarinhos from the Monção sub-region for the most serious whites in the country.
The style. Young Vinho Verde is light, lemony, sometimes faintly fizzy, and built to drink with the food of the region — grilled sardines, octopus rice, fresh cheese. Serious Alvarinhos can age for a decade.
How to taste. Visit two or three producers in one day, not eight. Bring an empty cooler. Most family wineries don't charge for tastings, but always buy a few bottles. They will be the best souvenir you bring home.
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