Adega Viúva Gomes Collares Tinto

Description

The wine region was demarcated in 1908, making it the country’s second oldest officially defined area. It sits in a dune plain on the coast of the municipality of Sintra, between the mountains and the Atlantic Ocean, from Cabo da Roca to Magoito. The link between Colares and wine is lost to history, but we know that wine was already being produced there during Roman times; later, in 1230, King D. Afonso III granted lands to nobles on the condition that they cultivate vineyards. Colares gained fame at the end of the 19th century, specifically in 1865, when the greatest threat to world viticulture—phylloxera—arrived. This tiny insect, native to the Americas, began reaching Europe alive as travel times shortened with the introduction of steam-powered ships. Remarkably, the vineyards of Colares were the only ones that survived phylloxera, thanks to the depth of their roots, sometimes reaching 8 metres, which prevented the pathogen from spreading as it did in other soil types. Across Europe, except in this region, American vines (resistant to the insect) grafted onto European varieties began to be used. (Illustrative image)