Green room: how Vinhos Verdes upped its A-list appeal
Once renowned for its naturally low-alcohol whites with a hint of fizz, Vinhos Verdes is diving into a new era – one that reveals the Portuguese wine region in all its technicolour glory, writes Sarah Neish.
One of the greatest privileges of getting older is the chance to reinvent oneself. I’d bet that few of us can claim to be the same as we were 20, 10 or even five years ago.
This year, the Vinho Verde DOC celebrated its 42nd birthday, and just as I realised it was time to retire my skinny jeans to the back of the wardrobe, so the appellation is evolving its image.
Make no mistake, the Vinhos Verdes region is at a crossroads, with some challenging decisions to make in its immediate future. As with any major step-change, it may draw grumbles from long-term supporters, but the potential pay-off cannot be overstated, with the opportunity to attract a whole new generation of consumers.
But can the region be decisive enough to make the change count? Or will it get stuck sitting on the fence?
Coming of age
The north-west Portuguese region shot to fame in the 1980s and early 1990s for its great-value still white wines with a touch of effervescence, born initially from a spontaneous secondary fermentation in the bottle, but in recent years more commonly achieved via the artificial addition of CO2 .
When Portugal joined the EU in 1986, it opened up extensive global distribution networks, meaning that Vinhos Verdes wines were on the menu in most wine-drinking households and were a dinner party staple alongside shoulder pads, acid-wash denim and perms.
However, the wine region’s “classic” signature style has become something of a cross to bear, with some producers in the region frustrated at the lack of recognition for their ability to make other, different kinds of wines.
“As a brand, Vinhos Verdes is very big; people know it,” says João Paupério, marketing manager for the Comissão de Viticultura da Região dos Vinhos Verdes (CVRVV). “But they know it as a style rather than a region. We want to put all the different types of wine produced in Vinhos Verdes on the map.”
Dora Simões, president of the CVRVV, underscores the popular misconception. “People think of Vinhos Verdes in the same way they think of Port or Madeira, as a wine style rather than a place,” she echoes.
Many different styles
Indeed, there is a reason why the name of the region is plural; a nod to the many different styles of wine made within its verdant landscape. Nowadays, there is an increased focus on premium single-varietal, and often single-vineyard, wines made from native white grapes Alvarinho and Loureiro, as well as a smattering of other indigenous varieties.
White wines remain Vinhos Verdes’ calling card. According to CVRVV data from 2026, about 80% of the region is planted with white grapes and just 20% with red, and this reality is reflected in its sales, with white wines accounting for 90% of sales last year by volume.
“Premium winemaking has always been possible in Vinhos Verdes. We were just very occupied in making a more easy-to-drink style,” says Simões, who adds that the one thing all wines from the region share, irrespective of style or price point, is naturally low alcohol, high acidity and freshness.
“These are absolutely the backbone of the region.”
Divisive topic
The classic, slightly fizzy whites are a divisive topic within the region; everyone has an opinion on whether these are a core part of the Vinhos Verdes DNA or whether they should be phased out in favour of styles that better suit changing consumer tastes.
In theory, these classic wines should tick every box a wine drinker wants in 2026 – they are naturally low in alcohol (usually between 9%–11% ABV), fresh, fruity, young and a little bit fizzy (which in a world where sparkling wines top the sales charts is no bad thing).
However, the average price of a Vinhos Verdes wine in a UK supermarket is £8 or £9, and the region is looking to edge this RRP upwards.
There is also a communication gap with younger consumers less familiar with Vinhos Verdes, who are not necessarily aware that the touch of fizz is intentional, running the risk of Gen Z-ers opening a bottle and believing it to be faulty.
“We need to get rid of the perception that Vinhos Verdes wines have to have gas, sugar and cost €2,” says Vitória Carvalho, export manager at Quinta das Pirâmides. “Older consumers and the domestic Portuguese market still want the classic style, but in export markets tastes are changing.”
Bubbling away
The issue has been bubbling away for some time, with producers broadly falling into three camps: those that stand behind the commercial pull of the fizzy style, those that refuse to make it, and those that are hedging their bets, producing wines both with and without gas.
Paulo Ramos, owner of Quinta de Paços, says he is “100% against adding gas”.
He tells db: “We make wines; we don’t make soda drinks. In the past, winemakers had to bottle the wines really soon because they didn’t have anywhere to store them, so secondary fermentation would occur naturally in the bottle. Sometimes they would even add one or two grains of rice to create more gas at the bottling stage because the gas helps the wine to keep for longer. Then, in the 1950s and 1960s, people started adding artificial gas. It doesn’t make sense for me to add something that is not a natural process inside the wine.”
For Carlos Teixeira, winemaker and technical director at Quinta da Lixa, the region should be showcasing “dry wines, without residual sugar, that are able to age – wines that don’t have carbonic”.
According to Teixeira, “we are on that wave, and I hope that, without it becoming a tsunami, the message can reach the world”.
Changing the perception of Vinhos Verdes is the prize, he adds, for “all the work that has been done in the vineyards that has completely transformed the region”.
Teixeira’s Pouco Comum, a 100% Alvarinho fermented in stainless steel, is on the shelves of UK retailer Majestic for £14. However, he still makes the classic style for a different consumer. “The level of CO2 [added to the wines] has been coming down for the last decade, and I try to drop it further year after year,” he says.
Quinta da Lixa, represented in the UK by Enotria, produced 500,000 bottles per year when Teixeira first landed the winemaker gig there in the early 2000s, at a time when wines were produced “mainly for local consumption”, he explains. “Now we export to 34 countries and make 6m bottles per year.”
This kind of expansion story is common across the region and hints at why producers feel called to reassess the kinds of wine they are making, and for whom. Now is also the perfect time to pivot, as Vinhos Verdes is one of the few regions for which the recent changes to the UK duty system, calculated by ABV, is cause for celebration.
Opened windows and doors
Vinhos Verdes’ naturally lower-alcohol wines mean producers can afford to ship more premium expressions to the UK while rival regions are being priced out. The situation has “not only opened windows for Vinhos Verdes, but windows, doors, you name it…,” Teixeira jokes.
Consequently, the UK is seeing a raft of more complex, interesting wines enter the market. One such wine that Quinta da Lixa is hoping to place in the UK is Único 360, a white Avesso/Alvarinho blend, priced at €55 in Portugal, which uses vessels made of numerous different materials to achieve the final result. Destemmed bunches of Avesso are fermented in a lagar (traditional stone trough), while the Alvarinho is fermented in concrete. The blended wine is then aged on its lees for 24 months in used French oak, and matured for a further 10 months in stainless steel, before undergoing another 24 months in bottle prior to release.
Alvarinho stronghold
Quinta da Lixa is not alone in elevating its offer. In Monção e Melgaço, Portugal’s stronghold for Alvarinho, and Vinhos Verdes’ most northerly point, the commitment to a new way forward for the region is evident.
Soalheiro makes none of the region’s ‘classic’ fizzy wines, focusing its attentions exclusively on showcasing various expressions of Alvarinho, from mineral and citrus-leaning styles to single-vineyard bottles, sparkling wines and more textured cuvées aged on lees. It even makes an experimental appassimento style from the white variety.
“The Alvarinho grape is very elastic,” says Soalheiro owner Maria João Cerdeira.
Monção e Melgaço may not yet be a name you’re familiar with, but it sits in close proximity to two names that you probably will have heard of: Rías Baixas and the Symingtons. Galician Albariño powerhouse Rías Baixas is located just over the mountainside, about an hour’s drive away from Monção e Melgaço, and while one is world-famous for its work with the variety, only the cognoscenti have twigged that Monção e Melgaço makes wines of equally high quality for a fraction of the price.
Comparing the two regions’ prowess with Albariño/Alvarinho, Ants Rixon, MD of Enotria says: “Rías Baixas has rightfully established strong international recognition, but given the growth we are seeing in Vinhos Verdes, the latter is moving well beyond its traditional perception, rapidly broadening its premium credentials through single-vineyard and single-variety expressions of the grape.”
One faction to leap on the potential of Monção e Melgaço was Port dynasty the Symington family who, according to Soalheiro’s Cerdeira, bought a wine estate in the mountain village two or three years ago “with the aim of having its Portuguese still white wines eventually coming from Vinhos Verdes rather than the Douro”.
Natural paradise
It’s high praise indeed for this slice of natural paradise. Driving through the mountains, the panorama is studded with maias (Portuguese broom) trees bursting with sunshine-yellow blooms. Local residents snip bunches to hang on their front doors every 30 April to mark the start of spring and to ask for prosperity, fertility and the deterrence of bad spirits.
“We don’t know if it works or not,” shrugs Cerdeira. “But we put them just in case.”
The maias trees aren’t the only reason the landscape is awash with a buttery hue. The undulating hillsides are carpeted thickly with saffron.
“If we didn’t make wine, we could make a very good business selling saffron,” Cerdeira quips.
As it happens, Soalheiro is doing well on the wine front, selling about 1.2m bottles per year, helped by Cerdeira’s quest to plant Alvarinho at increasingly high altitudes. From vineyards planted at 150m above sea level when the winery was founded in 1974, its holdings have climbed to 1,000m in search of that holy grail: freshness.
Soalheiro’s wonderfully gastronomic Granit Alvarinho comes from granite soils at around 400m, and expresses minerality over fruit, with high acidity and a crisp elegance, with some creaminess from bâtonnage on its fine lees. The producer’s Primeiras Vinhas Alvarinho, on the other hand, uses hand-picked fruit from 30-year-old vines, with 15% aged in a combination of foudre and cask. Not only does planting Alvarinho make sense in terms of terroir, it also squares up economically.
Grape prices
“The price of Alvarinho grapes is about €1.20 per kilo in Vinhos Verdes, compared to 50 cents per kilo for Loureiro,” says Cerdeira.
She largely has scarcity to thank for this, with Alvarinho representing just 19% of Vinho Verdes’ total vineyard, while Loureiro is the region’s most prolific white grape with 35% of plantings. Fellow white variety Arinto makes up 18%.
As with everywhere, climate change has reared its head in Monção e Melgaço. “Ten years ago, harvest time was in October; now it is more like the end of August or the middle of September,” says Cerdeira.
Thankfully, as temperatures heat up, she has a natural barometer up her sleeve. “Wild peppermint is a great humidity indicator,” she reveals, bending down to rub the herb between her fingers. “If it grows in the soil, it means there is lots of humidity.”
Given that Soalheiro farms its 16ha of vines organically, that information could prove to be invaluable.
Moon walking
In the Lima sub-region, Aphros uses orange oil to prevent mildew as part of its biodynamic approach, the moon steering the producer’s operations like a conductor directing an orchestra.
“It’s all about belonging to a cosmos,” says Aphros winemaker Miguel Viseu. “There is the right moon to plant, the right moon to harvest, the right moon to bottle, etc.”
As he puts it: “The moon is capable of influencing vast bodies of water like oceans. Why wouldn’t it influence the small amount of water in a plant?”
Viseu’s interest in biodynamics was piqued while working in Burgundy, where he noticed that “the lees would go up and down in the barrel, according to the moon”.
Sometimes, he says, “we are so disconnected from nature that we don’t even realise it. The ‘system’ pushes you to take a pill, and with farming you can become a machine that just makes money. It is possible to drink a wine that has never been touched by a human”.
He uses pea-sized amounts of herbs on compost, which when added to the soil “works like an inoculation”.
Natural tools
Aphros’ vineyards, surrounded by acacia, pine and eucalyptus trees, are alive with chattering goats, sheep and chickens, while the inhabitants of bee hives buzz industriously. “If you have natural tools to fix the vines, it shows up in the quality of the wines,” Viseu says.
The winery is also home to an antique, but still used, destemming machine powered by… a bicycle. Rudolph Steiner, founder of the biodynamic movement, believed that electricity severs the natural energy between man and product, whereas Viseu says wryly: “You don’t need the stress of electrical equipment that breaks down,” jumping on the manually-operated machine to demonstrate its pedal power.
As for the wines themselves, Viseu carries out very long macerations (grapes spend five to seven months on the skins) and uses 60-litre clay amphorae lined with beeswax for fermentation, with olive oil poured onto the surface of the wine after it undergoes malolactic.
The oil “doesn’t mix with the wine, and helps protect it because there is no contact with oxygen”, Viseu explains. “It’s what the Romans used to do.”
There can be nothing further away from mass-produced fizzy wines than these. And Viseu is happy to stand apart from the crowd. Everything, he says, is energy. “If you cook by electricity or by fire, it tastes different. Wine is a little bit like that. If you have a grumpy winemaker who didn’t want to be there, the wines would not taste the same.”
Contrasting Loureiro
While the fingerprint of Albariño is richness and fresh acidity, Loureiro offers something contrasting. “Loureiro tends to be more fragrant than Alvarinho, which lives more on the palate,” says Portuguese winemaker and educator Tiago Macena.
“Loureiro is the exact opposite and expresses itself more aromatically, but is leaner on the palate.”
For this reason, the two grapes are often blended together, but Vinhos Verdes producers are increasingly making high-quality 100% Loureiro, setting out to create wines both with age and that can also be aged further; in other words, the polar opposite to the young, classic wines designed to arrive on retail shelves speedily.
Quinta do Espigueiro Grande, for example, matures its Cisacasão Loureiro for 24 months in barrel, with bâtonnage during the first 12 months, before being bottle aged for a further 18 months ahead of release.
Changing labels
One hot topic is whether the DOC should coin specific wording for producers making the ‘classic’ Vinhos Verdes style to use on wine labels, signalling to consumers that what is inside the bottle has a touch of fizz.
The call is coming from both sides of the equation: winemakers who don’t want their premium wines mistaken for the easy-drinking style, and those making the semi-sparkling kind who want customers to know what they are getting.
“Maybe ‘frizzante’?” offers up Aphros’ Miguel Viseu as a possible option.
Others believe that the price speaks for itself. “Price point is very important for this perception of having fizz/not fizz, because you can find Vinhos Verdes wines at £7 or £70,” says Quinta da Lixa’s Carlos Teixeira. “The kind of work we are trying to do ongoing is single vineyard. But there is nothing to indicate this on the label. We still don’t have that.”
It would help, he adds, to give some information on what the consumer can expect, “whether that’s an easier style with a fizzy character, or whether they are about to go on a much more complex journey”.
However, he notes: “I don’t think that someone who buys a £40 wine expects it to have fizz.”
Moving on
According to Tiago Macena, it’s crucial to convey that Vinhos Verdes has moved beyond its fizzy wines. “We are more than that,” he says. “Yes, it’s a challenge, and the more premium wines probably need more of a hand-sell, but it’s a path that is being chosen and is already under way.”
Maria Boumpa, wine director at Michelin-starred London restaurant Da Terra, recently co-presented a masterclass on Vinhos Verdes wines. In her view: “We can’t always think about what the market asks, because there might be an experimental wine from a winemaker, one that makes them really proud, so we can’t really stop that just because the market demands something different.”
Sometimes, however, all that is needed is a set of new clothes (I refer you to the skinny jeans of old).
“We are not turning our back on the traditional, slightly fizzy style because it’s still a lot of our production,” says CVRVV president Simões. “I grew up with these wines, but we have to innovate. One of the visions I have is to turn the more classic style of Vinhos Verdes into cans to sell at concerts and sports events. We don’t yet have a proper, certified DOC Vinhos Verdes wine in a can.”
She knows there may be pushback from producers, but points out: “It’s not a Petrus! Just drink it from the can!”
Part of the future
The fact that the classic wines still have a sizeable audience is a reality that Carlos Teixeira acknowledges. “These more premium still wines won’t be the future of Vinhos Verdes; they will be part of the future,” he says. “We still need the easy-drinking fizzy wines which you can sip while talking about something else – economics, politics, whatever – and you don’t have to stop the conversation to analyse the wine.”
Simões wraps it up: “A region should have a portfolio of wines that a consumer can drink. We should be proud of what we have and keep doing it well. We don’t want to throw the baby out with the bath water,” she says.
“These wines brought us to where we are now. I’d say we are in phase two or maybe phase three for Vinhos Verdes. The white wine craze will turn again – we’ve lived long enough to know this – so we can’t throw away our diversity.”
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