Portugal
While Portugal is a small country, it has a great variety of soils and climate as well as Portuguese varietals. Portugal's wine reputation has been built around its own indigenous grape varieties. Portugal is the seventh largest wine producing country in the world.
Fortified wines, notably Port and Madeira, and rosé wines, Mateus and Lancers, account for over 70% of Portugal's wine exports, and yet they only account for 15% of total wine production. Many dry wines from Dão, Bairrada, Ribatejo, Alentejo and Vinho Verde are making their mark on the export markets, reflecting the character of their respective regions while at the same time providing excellent value for money in their quality categories. 'Garrafeira' wines are another speciality of Portugal. These are blended 'reserve' wines from exceptional years that have been aged in wood for at least two years prior to bottling, and a further one year in bottle before release. The rosé wine industry is also becoming an extremely important market for Portugal, where wines are produced in a slightly pétillant, medium dry style, consistent, fresh and fruity. Production is taken very seriously and involves some of the most technically advanced wineries in Portugal. Another speciality, based on the Moscatel (Muscat) grape is Moscatel de Setubal, a fortified sweet wine that can be aged for up to 50 years in oak.