Olá amigos!

Coming straight from the horse’s mouth, Portugal has a lot to offer the world in its winemaking industry. For starters, Portugal is one of the top wine producing countries in the world – there are over one million acres of vines in over eight different wine regions that generate some of Portugal’s top wines, including the famous Port and Madeira wines.

Port is made in the Douro valley in northern Portugal, which is the third oldest defined and protected wine region in the world . Around 30,000 growers in the Douro are involved in the process of growing grapes to sell for the production of Port. What makes Port so special is the addition of Aguardente (a neutral grape spirit) which is used to take away the fermentation of the wine, but used to keep the grape’s natural sugars to increase the alcohol content.

Madeira, on the other hand, has a special aging process called estufagem that sets it aside from other wines. This process heats the wine up to around 120°F during maturation to age it, giving it a brown, caramel color and a mellower taste. The aging process can last from 3 months to 20 years, depending how you age the Madeira. Another interesting fact is that Madeira wine can last up to 150 years, making it one of the longest lasting wines if it is properly sealed.

If only horses had that kind of a lifespan…