Red Grape Variety - "T" letter

The most productive and easiest to grow of the different varietals that make up the recipe for the great fortified wines of Oporto in the Douro valley in Portugal. Tinta Barroca has a very thin and dark skin which allows it to impart color and alcohol to the port blend without adding too much in the way of tannins.

This varietal is also used to make some non-fortified versions that can be elegant and aromatic, if always fruity. Also grown in South Africa for both fortified and dry versions. When grown in cooler climates or higher elevations Tinta Barroca can be quite aromatic and full of black cherries, black plums and purple flowers.

Tinta Cão is one of the greatest of the varietals grown primarily in the Douro valley in northern Portugal since the sixteenth century for use in the delicious fortified wines of Oporto.

The vine produces very low yields which has led it close to extinction despite the high quality of wine that it can produce.

Improvements in bilateral cordon training and experiments at University of California, Davis have helped to sustain the variety. The vine favors cooler climates and can add finesse and complexity to a wine blend.

Tinta Cão has a particularly tough skin, which sometimes can hamper ripening if the vine is grown in very warm areas or has too high a yield. When grown at higher elevations Tinta Cão can have an intensely floral and spicy aroma with hints of black cherries and Christmas spices that can add a certain character to the final port blend.

It is also grown up along the Duero basin across the border in the Spanish province of Castile and León, the Castelo Rodrigo, Cova da Beira and Pinhel wine regions located within the larger Beiras Vinho Regional (VR) in Portugal and can be found in the Dão DOC of Portugal where the variety is known as Tinta Pinheira.

Rufete is known to be an early ripening vine that can produce light bodied wines that are risk of oxidizing easily if anaerobic winemaking techniques are not used

It 2001 the more important and indigenous Touriga Francesca was renamed Touriga Franca. On many bottles and in many a trade publication it is still referred to as Touriga Francesca and that is the reason it is referred to in this manner here.

Touriga Francesa is prized for its ability to ripen early as well as the haunting mix of fruit and wildflowers that it contributes to port wines.

Increasingly Touriga Francesa can be found either as a single varietal or as part of the blends of still, dry wines that are gaining momentum in the Douro valley.

Touriga Franca is lighter and more perfumed than Touriga Nacional, adding finesse to the wine. Touriga Franca has been described by Jancis Robinson as playing "Cabernet Franc to Touriga Nacional’s Cabernet Sauvignon".

Not much is known about the origins, but it was probably a cross of Mourisco de Semente and Touriga Nacional. Touriga Franca is quite similar to Touriga Nacional, needing harsh conditions to keep vigor down as it gets on the steep arid slopes of the Douro. It is usually trained low to the ground under one of the Royat systems. Yields are medium (1,5 kg/vine), not as bad as Touriga Nacional.

In Portugal, Touriga Franca is the fifth most planted grape, with 7,440 hectares. It plays an important part in port blends. Like Nacional, the variety is increasingly being used for unfortified red wine in the Douro and in the Dão.

Touriga Nacional is a variety of red wine grape, considered by many to be Portugal's finest, and used to create the substantial and long-lived fortified wines known as Port. Despite the low yields from its small grapes, it plays a big part in the blends used for ports, and is increasingly being used for table wine in the Douro and Dão. Touriga Nacional provides structure and body to wine, with high tannins and concentrated flavors of black fruit.

Jancis Robinson has compared its relationship with Touriga Francesa to the partnership between Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, the former providing structure, the latter filling out the bouquet.

Touriga Nacional has a thick skin and small clusters of berries which help to contribute to the colorful and tannic wine it creates. In addition to the flowers, tannins and extract the Touriga Nacional brings to the Port table, the grape is an integral part of the blends of still red wine found in both the Douro and Dão valleys, producing wines that are heavy in both red fruits and structure. Yields are low, but recent clonal selection has improved production.

While some of the best and most expensive wines of the Douro and the Dão contain high percentages of Touriga Nacional, usually even the every day reds have at least a small portion of this varietal. Used for port production in Australia (where it is known as Touriga) as well as in small amounts in Chile, Argentina and the United States.

The vine is very vigorous, and good results depend on keeping it in check. In the Douro it is grown in searing heat in steep schisty vineyards that are more rock than soil. The alternative name of Mortágua pays tribute to these harsh conditions. It is usually trained under one of the Guyot systems, and needs severe pruning to keep it under control. In contrast, the vine produces just a few bunches of blue-black grapes which vary in size from 'small' to 'tiny'. Thus yields are among the lowest of any commercial grape variety.

In the late 1990s there were 2,760 hectares of Touriga Nacional in Portugal. Its poor yields mean that it represents a tiny part of the wine production in the Douro, but it plays a major part in the blends of the best ports.

Traditionally a lot of US wine was fortified, and many of the producers of such 'port' have experimented with using Portuguese grapes as a way to improve their product.

The tiny berries of Touriga Nacional have a high skin to pulp ratio which heightens the amount of extract in the wines. The grapes can produce intense, very aromatic wines with high tannin content.