Viúva Gomes Viticultores Tinto

Description

The wine region was demarcated in 1908, making it the country’s second-oldest demarcated region. Located in a dune area along 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 time, but we know that wine was already being produced there during the Roman occupation; later, in 1230, King D. Afonso III granted lands to nobles on the condition that they cultivated vineyards. Colares became famous in the late 19th century, specifically in 1865, when its greatest threat to world viticulture, phylloxera, broke out. This tiny insect, from the Americas, began arriving alive in Europe when travel times were shortened by the introduction of steam engines on ships. Interestingly, the vineyards of Colares were the only ones that survived phylloxera, thanks to the depth of their roots—sometimes up to 8 metres—preventing the pathogen’s spread as it did in other soils. Across Europe, except for this region, American rootstocks (resistant to the insect) grafted onto European vines were used. (Illustrative image only)