Portuguese Wine

Around the birth of Christ, the Romans had conquered most of Europe including the Iberian Peninsula.

The Roman soldiers needed wine, and in order not to transport it all the way from Rome, they chose to plant vines along the banks of the Douro River.

When the Romans left the country, the Iberian Peninsula was invaded by the Moors in the 700s. They were Muslims and therefore did not drink wine themselves, but they took over the cultivation of wine in the country.

Portugal was born in 1109 when King Alfonso VI of Castile died and his son-in-law Henry proclaimed Portugal independent.

After Henry's death in 1143, the nobility elected Afonso Henriques as Portugal's first king. He offered the crusaders who helped drive the Moors out of the country a plot of land on the Douro River.

As early as 1756, the Douro Valley became the world's first demarcated wine region. The area was demarcated and precisely defined with granite stakes.