Portugal — wine

Trás-os-Montes Wine Region

Trás-os-Montes ('Behind the Mountains') is Portugal's most remote and least-known wine region — a high plateau beyond the Marão and Montesinho mountains in the far northeast, bordering Spain's Galicia and Castile. The extreme continental climate (the coldest winters and hottest summers in Portugal) and the schist and granite soils at 600–900m produce wines of distinctive character: ancient indigenous varieties including Rabigato, Viosinho, and Códega for whites, and Bastardo, Trincadeira, and Touriga Nacional for reds. The wines are rough-hewn, authentic, and deeply Portuguese.

Year Rating Notes
2023 Trás-os-Montes continental climate performed well; Bastardo and indigenous whites showed characteristic ancient-variety freshness.
2022 Outstanding Portuguese mountain vintage; extreme continental conditions produced Bastardo of unusual depth for this light variety.
2021 Reliable mountain plateau vintage; the high altitude and extreme continental climate maintained characteristic regional character.
2020 Solid vintage; the isolated plateau's indigenous varieties demonstrated their natural adaptation to the extreme conditions.
2019 Fine Trás-os-Montes vintage; quality estates produced wines that finally gave this overlooked Portuguese region deserved international attention.