Douro

The Douro’s 43,000 hectares of terraced vineyard were demarcated in 1756, before Bordeaux’s classification. Port has been its business for three centuries; since the 1990s unfortified Douro reds have become some of Portugal’s most expensive wines. Vineyard land is sold as whole quintas rather than by the hectare and farming the terraces is costly, while the price paid for grapes has been under pressure as Port sales decline.

Economics in brief

Port production is regulated by the benefício, the annual quota of grapes that may be fortified, which caps supply and supports grape prices for the best sites. Shrinking Port sales have left growers warning that part of the 2026 harvest may go unsold. Quintas sell with their houses and cellars: recent asking prices run from about €1 million for nine hectares to many millions for the large estates, and the trade puts the cost of farming a terraced hectare at around €5,000 a year before any return.

The grapes are Portugal’s own: Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca and Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo) for red, with old mixed plantings of dozens of varieties on the best terraces.