Colares

Overview

Colares is one of Portugal's smallest and most unusual wine regions, located on the coast north of Lisbon. Its vineyards are planted in deep, sandy trenches cut into the Atlantic dunes, a soil that protected vines from phylloxera and allowed them to remain ungrafted. The maritime climate is cool, windy, and humid.

Ramisco is the legendary local red grape, producing tannic, long-lived wines with earthy, salty character. Malvasia and Arinto are used for fresh, mineral whites. Once covering more than 1,000 hectares, the region has shrunk dramatically and is now a rare wine treasure.

Key Varietals

• RamiscoColares' emblematic red, giving tannic, rustic, age-worthy wines with red fruit and salty earth.
• MalvasiaA fragrant white grape used for fresh, mineral, slightly saline Colares whites.
• ArintoAdds bright acidity and citrus lift to white blends from the sand dunes.
• Tinta RorizA minor red variety contributing red berry fruit and structure to local blends.