Algarve wines, anyone? You’ve probably heard of Portugal’s Duoro Valley, where the planet’s finest Ports and some truly powerful world-class reds are made, often from the same grapes. The Algarve also has more than its fair share of glorious home-grown tipples, making it famous for much more than the food, the welcome, the weather, and the eye-wateringly lovely beaches. In fact wine production has been key to this region’s appeal and economy for centuries, with four important wine sub-regions or Denominação de Origem Protegida to discover. This article pours out a glass of beautiful Algarve red, swigs it, and gives you the verdict. Oh, and we’ll talk about the Algarve’s wonderful food as well.
What is local wine like in the Algarve?
The landscapes here are protected on one side by the Atlantic and on the other by towering mountains, giving it a unique microclimate with mild, wet winters, hot dry summers, and loads of sunshine all year long. The resulting wines offer something for everyone. Try the reds, whites, rosés, and enjoy the rich fortified wine called licorosa. These tasty treats are often made from the grapevines that thrive best in the soils here: the red Castelão and Negra Mole grapes, and the white Arintos and Sírias varieties.
The history behind the Algarve’s wonderful wines
The Phoenicians brought wine into this region with them, as did the ancient Greeks, together kicking off a trend for domesticating the area’s wild uncultivated grapevines. Then the Romans came along and made even more wine locally, sealing the deal. One Roman villa at Milreu apparently made at least 20,000 litres of wine every year. When the Romans fled the flow of wine slowed but never completely stopped. By the late 1400s grapes and wine exports had grown to underpin the Algarve’s economy once more.
The Algarve’s first four wine cooperatives, set up in the 1940s, took the quality of the local wines to a new level. The 1980s saw the region’s expertise and dedication formalised as a Vinho de Indicação Geográfica Protegida, which roughly translates as a Protected Geographic Indication. And the 1990s heralded in four new formal wine subregions: Lagos, Portimão, Lagoa, and Tavira.
Love the wines of Tavira
The Tavira sub-region covers central and east Algarve, specifically Faro and Olhão counties along with bits of São Brás, Castro Marim, Tavira, and Vila Real de Santo António. The red wines made here are very fruity, medium bodied and easy to drink with barely any tannin. The whites are light, aromatic and complex thanks to the acidity of the soil and the warm climate.
The wines of Portugal’s Portimão sub-region
Head for the west of the Algarve to sample wares from the smallest sub-region covering Portimão, Mexilhoeira Grande, and Alvar. The reds here are full-bodied and velvety, just as fruity as those from Lagos. The whites have their own unique straw colour and taste both delicate and smooth.
About the wine sub-region of Lagos
The Lagos wine subregion includes Lagos, Aljezur, and Vila do Bispo, home to interesting reds and whites. The low soil acidity and the wine’s high alcohol content keeps things exciting, giving the reds a fruity flavour and velvety feel. The white wines of Lagos are delicate and smooth with an acidic tang at the end, coloured either a fresh straw yellow or lovely green-yellow.
Discovering Lagoa wines
Lagoa lies in central Algarve. It covers two entire counties, Albufeira and Lagoa itself, and incorporates some of Silves and Loulé. Lagoa’s red wines are smooth, fruity and powerfully alcoholic, and you can move between different reds with ease and enjoyment. The whites are strong and dry but very fruity and famously easy to drink.
Visit the Algarve’s awesome wineries
Not only can you drink Algarve wine. You can visit the places it’s made, the famed rural wineries, some of which offer snacks and others with their own restaurants, wine bars and even accommodation attached. Take the lovely Monte da Casteleja on the outskirts of Lagos, where the organic wines are there for the tasting. Or the exclusive Villa Alvor in Alvor, where they only make wines to try and buy on the premises.
Quinta da Tôr lies just around four miles from Loulé, a place where they’ve been wine-making since the 1400s. Modernised in 2011, these days they make an impressive 100,000 bottles a year using seven different kinds of grapes. You’ll love Quinta dos Vales in the small village of Estômbar, which provides visitors with exceptional wine tasting and wine-making opportunities. The wines made here are famously good, and their Marquês dos Vales brand is known and loved around the world.
So what to eat with all these fabulous wines?
The Algarve hugs the coastline from north to south, which means seafood is high on the menu. All of these traditional Algarve dishes go beautifully with a glass or several of the wines from all four sub-regions. Take your pick of sub-regions, choose a wine, then fall truly, deeply and madly in love with these fabulous flavours.
A cataplana is a cooking pot, but it’s also a recipe. Think a rich seafood casserole and you get the picture. It’s packed with clams, mussels, shrimp, and fish, enriched with loads of garlic, onions, tomatoes and herbs, and generously seasoned with paprika. Arroz de Marisco will blow your mind too, a superb rice and seafood recipe containing a variety of fish and shellfish, cooked with oodles of tomatoes, onions, garlic, and lush spices.
Xerém com Conquilhas might be hard to pronounce but it’s a dream to eat! A cornmeal recipe served with baby clams, it comes with big, bold garlic, olive oil, and herb flavours. Amêijoas à Bulhão Pato, equally hard to say, is also a feast based on clams, this time prepared with garlic, fresh coriander, white wine and olive oil. And then there are goose barnacles, locally known as Percebes, a delicacy in the region. Served with a sauce to dip them in, and maybe some crusty bread, they’re simply delicious.
You can’t eat out on the Algarve without sampling Sardinhas Assadas, local grilled sardines seasoned with salt and olive oil then baked on an open grill. Add bread and a salad for utter foodie perfection with absolutely no fuss. We also recommend Carapaus Alimados, basically migratory horse mackerel fish boiled then marinated in olive oil, vinegar, garlic, and sweet paprika. Served cold, it makes a lovely fresh starter or snack.
And how about a sweets? Go for Figos e Amendoeiras in all sorts of gorgeous combinations, both grown here and baked into delicate, succulent desserts and pastries. You might prefer the idea of traditional Dom Rodrigos, sweet almond and egg-based figures with a brightly-coloured sugar coating.
Where to experience all this culinary magic?
The Algarve is scenic every step of the way. Eating out on the coast gives you stunning views of the ocean, the sky and the countless beautiful beaches. Village restaurants are intimate and welcoming, surrounded by lovely hilly countryside. A street cafe is a delightful way to sample honest local dishes while watching the world go by.
Hotel restaurants are often an excellent contemporary destination for multi-course adventures and an exciting creative take on the region’s traditional recipes. There are plenty of very posh, super-smart eateries to test drive your taste-buds. Even the small beachside cafes often serve great food. However you approach it, wherever you consume it, this is the best possibly kind of healthy eating: always delicious, freshly-cooked, and rich in local ingredients. Add local wines and you’re in heaven.
Want to discover the flavour of food and drink on the Algarve for yourself? Take a look at our exciting range of Algarve Tours, see what takes your fancy.
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