CVR ALGARVE

Engº Carlos José Brito Gracias
President of the Board
Comissão Vitivinícola do Algarve / Algarve Wine Commission

The wine region of Algarve

The development of wine is intimately connected to the advent of European civilizations and cultures, particularly around the Mediterranean. The Algarve Demarcated Region, which dates from 1980, is located at the southern most tip of Portugal and coincides with the geo-graphical boundaries of the Faro District. This is where the Vinho Regional Algarve and the “Algarve” Liqueur wine are produced. The coastal strip, where the Atlantic and the Mediterranean meet, is home to the four “Designation of Origin” regional producers, namely DOC Lagos, DOC Lagoa, DOC Portimão and DOC Tavira.

This region has a long history of wine production, as can be proved by the existence of the Lagoa Cooperative Winery, the third oldest in the country, which has been functioning since 1945. In the past, production was concentrated in the Lagoa, Lagos, Portimão and Tavira cooperatives, which coincided with the four Designation of Origin regions. Currently the total area occupied by vineyards in the Algarve is around 2000 hectares, of which about 500 were restructured over the past decade, bringing in new varieties and state of the art technology. These enterprises were supported by the Algarve Wine Region, established in 1998, and have permitted the stabilization of production at around 2 million liters of quality certifiable wines. The majority of these receive the “Vinho Regional do Algarve” designation.

The region aims to be known for the quality, rather than the quantity, of its wines, as well as the specificities of its produce.

The unique confluence of Mediterranean and Atlantic environments confer special characteristics on the wines, which are enhanced by the unique terroir and the competence of the producers and oenologists. It also bears pointing out that today over half the volume of certified quality wines is made by producers-bottlers, at their own wineries and estates, built through their effort and entrepreneurship, with the aid of European Union funds. This has led to what can aptly be described as “signature” wines.

The Algarve region produces quality, elegant and unpretentious wines, from a combination of the best regional varieties with new varieties, of proven worth, brought from different regions, such as Negra Mole, Trincadeira, Crato Branco, Touriga Nacional, Syrah, Aragonês, Castelão and Cabernet Sauvignon, among others. Production of whites and rosés is currently going through a period of rapid growth, these are consumed mainly dur¬ing the Summer months, depending on the tourist season. It is estimated that over the next 4 to 6 years they may reach a market share of about 50%.

The Algarve Wine Region is increasingly making a name for itself and has aroused the curiosity of international and domestic critics and experts. The quality of the wines has been recognized and considered worthy of several distinctions recently, namely gold, silver and bronze medals at the Brussels World Competition in 2011, the International Wine Challenge 2011 in England, the National Competition of Bottled Wines in 2011 and the Italian Concurso la Selezione del Sindaco. The wine made exclusively from Touriga Nacional was considered one of Portugal’s top 10 by a panel of international judges led by Jancis Robinson MW, and another Algarve regional wine figures in the top 50 wines in the English market in a selection made by Tom Cannavan.

Discover the list of producers in this region here.

奥尔加夫葡萄酒酿造区

在欧洲，特别是在地中海地区，葡萄种植的发展跟文明与文化的产生有着本质的联系。1980年划定的奥尔加夫酒区位于葡萄牙的南端，与法鲁大区重合。它的领域相当于酿造奥尔加夫地区葡萄酒的区域和酿造地理名称为“奥尔加夫”的烈性芳香葡萄酒区域。在大西洋/地中海沿岸地区，坐落着四个“原产地划分”葡萄酒酿造区域：拉古什原产地控制酒区，拉果阿原产地控制酒区，波尔蒂芒原产地控制酒区和塔维拉原产地控制酒区。

这个地区有着葡萄酒酿造的历史和传统。为了证明这一历史和传统，我们拥有创立于1945年的拉古什联合酒窖，这个酒窖同年开始酿造葡萄酒，它是葡萄牙第三古老的联合酒窖。过去，这个地区的葡萄酒酿造集中在拉古什、拉果阿、波尔蒂芒和塔维拉联合酒窖，碰巧和四个原产地控制酒区相吻合。现在，整个奥尔加夫葡萄园包括差不多2000公顷的面积，其中500公顷是最近十年重建的，它们拥有新的葡萄品种和最现代化的安装、指导和维修技术。根据相关法律成立于1998年的奥尔加夫葡萄种植酿造委员会从事着许多活跃的工作，向葡萄种植酿造机构提供了支持，这一切使得年生产近两百万升高品质葡萄酒的酿造活动得到正常化，这些葡萄酒都能够得到认证。其中的大部分在市场上以“奥尔加夫地区葡萄酒”的名义出现。

这个地区试图获得肯定，它不以葡萄酒的数量，而是以葡萄酒的质量和酿造特点而获得肯定，其中还要加入其独一无二的地理位置，大西洋和地中海共同的影响，本地区特别的风土条件和优秀的葡萄种植者、酿酒师等等条件。此外，要着重指出的是，目前，超过一半获得认证的高品质葡萄酒是由葡萄酒酿造 –装瓶商负责的，他们在所经营的酒庄和酒窖上进行投资和创业的努力，
加上欧盟的计划，使得他们酿出了琼浆玉液般的美酒，这些美酒被评为“有作者的葡萄酒”。

本地区最好的葡萄品种与来自其他地区、其他大陆，极负盛誉的新葡萄品种相结合，比如：莫勒黑葡萄，特林卡德拉葡萄，卡拉多白葡萄，国产多丽嘉葡萄，西拉葡萄，阿拉贡葡萄，卡斯特朗葡萄和赤霞珠葡萄等，就得到了优雅而美味的葡萄酒，它们很容易被喝下去。白葡萄酒和粉红葡萄酒的酿造正处于扩展阶段，实际上，这些酒都是在夏天、被本地区的游客潮所消费。我们估计在四到六年的时间里，它们能够占到市场份额的50%左右。

奥尔加夫葡萄种植和酿造区正处于一个引人注目的增长阶段，它引起了国内和国际评论及专家们的兴趣。至于“奥尔加夫地区葡萄酒”的品质也在富有盛誉的赛事中得到了认可，在这些赛事中，如2011年英国国际葡萄酒大赛，2011年葡萄牙装瓶葡萄酒大赛，意大利“完美选择”葡萄酒大赛等，奥尔加夫葡萄酒都多次获奖。其中，经以简妮斯•罗宾逊MW为首的国际评审团评定，以“国产多丽嘉葡萄”为唯一原料酿造的葡萄酒被认为10种最好的葡萄牙葡萄酒之一;而汤姆•坎纳万选定的50种英国市场最好的葡萄酒，一款奥尔加夫葡萄酒也在其中。