Real variety from Portugal – tasting notes

Below are notes on about 120 Portuguese wines of all colours – almost all of them with an interesting story to tell. There are none that I can think of that could possibly have been produced in any other country. The nearest any of them come to expressing international rather than Portuguese varieties (or Tempranillo, the popular interloper from across the Spanish border) is one blend of Viognier and Alvarinho. I have written about the special qualities of Portuguese wine in more detail in Shining a light on Portugal.

The great majority of the tasting notes were written when I...