Portuguese wine map highlight Carcavelos

Carcavelos is a

Portuguese wine Portuguese wine was mostly introduced by the Romans (wine), Romans and other ancient Mediterranean peoples who traded with local coastal populations, mainly in the South. In pre-Roman Gallaecia-Lusitania times, the native peoples only drank beer ...

region centered on the

Carcavelos Carcavelos () was, until 2013, a civil parish in the Portuguese municipality of Cascais, about west of Lisbon. In 2013, the parish merged into the new parish Carcavelos e Parede. The parish was known for the Carcavelos wine. With the decline o ...

municipality in Estremadura region and includes land near the cities of

Cascais Cascais () is a town and municipality in the Lisbon District of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera, Estoril Coast. The municipality has a total of 214,158 inhabitants in an area of 97.40 km2. Cascais is an important tourism in Port ...

and Oeiras. The region has

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

's highest

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

classification as a ''

Denominação de Origem Controlada The denominação de origem controlada (or DOC) is the system of protected designation of origin for fruit, wines, cheeses, butters, and other agricultural products from Portugal. Wines Portuguese wine regions, as well as producers of several o ...

'' (DOC). Located at the very southern tip of the Estremadura region, the region has a long

winemaking Winemaking, wine-making, or vinification is the production of wine, starting with the selection of the fruit, its Ethanol fermentation, fermentation into alcohol, and the bottling of the finished liquid. The history of wine-making stretches over ...

history dating back to the 18th century when

Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, Marquis of Pombal Sebastião is Portuguese for ''Sebastian''. This name may refer to: People * Sebastião (given name) Places * Sebastião Barros, a town in the state of Piauí, Brazil * Sebastião Laranjeiras, a city in the state of Bahia, Brazil * Sebastião Lea ...

owned vineyards here. The region is known for its

fortified wine Fortified wine is a wine to which a distilled spirit, usually brandy, has been added. In the course of some centuries, winemakers have developed many different styles of fortified wine, including port, sherry, madeira, Marsala, Command ...

production, creating off dry, topaz colored wines that have nutty aromas and flavors.T. Stevenson ''"The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia"'' pg 330 Dorling Kindersley 2005 While once a thriving wine region, world-renowned in the 19th century for its tawny colored fortified wine, in the modern era Carcavelos has been devastated by real estate development in the suburbs of the capital city of

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

and nearby coastal city of

Estoril Estoril () is a town in the civil parish of Cascais e Estoril of the Portuguese Municipality of Cascais, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a popular tourist destination, with hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numero ...

.H. Johnson & J. Robinson ''The World Atlas of Wine'' pg 203 Mitchell Beazley Publishing 2005

History

While

viticulture Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine ...

has likely existed in this region since

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

times, it was not until the Marquis of Pombal established the region as a winemaking center in the 18th century that Carcavelos came to be associated with wine. Pombal's actions were perhaps self-serving since he owned extensive vineyard on his estate in Oeiras. Prior to this, Pombal would sell his grapes to

Port wine Port wine (, ; ), or simply port, is a Portuguese wine, Portuguese fortified wine produced in the Douro, Douro Valley of Norte, Portugal, northern Portugal. It is typically a sweetness of wine, sweet red wine, often served with dessert wine, ...

producers in the

Douro The Douro (, , , ; ; ) is the largest river of the Iberian Peninsula by discharge. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in the Spanish Soria Province, province of Soria, meanders briefly south, then flows generally west through the northern par ...

, in violation of his own 1756 regulations establishing the ''Companhia Geral da Agricultura das Vinhas do Alto Douro'' (General Company of Viticulture of the Upper Douro or C.G.A.V.A.D.) which aimed to guarantee the authenticity of Port by mandating that it be made completely from Douro grapes.J. Robinson (ed) ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition pg 138 Oxford University Press 2006 Pombal's estate eventually built a reputation for Carcavelos of fortified wine production. In the early 19th century, the wines were very popular with the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

market in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, particularly at the

auction An auction is usually a process of Trade, buying and selling Good (economics), goods or Service (economics), services by offering them up for Bidding, bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from th ...

houses. In 1908, the region was officially demarcated as '' Região Demarcada'' (an early precursor to the ''Denominação de Origem Controlada''

appellation An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication used to identify where the ingredients of a food or beverage originated, most often used for the origin of wine grapes. Restrictions other than geographical boundaries, s ...

system). However the 20th century has seen a rapid decline in

in the region because of the

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city". Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted ...

expansion of the capital city of Lisbon and the nearby city of Estoril. By the turn of the 21st century only 25 acres (10 hectares) of vines remain, consisting mostly of what is left of Pombal's estate and two independent vineyards. In a fate similar to the other principal regions of the

Lisboa VR Lisboa, until 2009 named Estremadura, is a Portuguese wine region covering the same areas as the Estremadura region, and taking its name from the country's capital. The region is classified as a '' Vinho Regional'' (VR), a designation similar to ...

-the

Colares DOC Colares is a Portuguese wine region centred on the Colares (Sintra), Colares parish in the Concelho, municipality of Sintra. The region has Portugal's highest wine classification of ''Denominação de Origem Controlada'' (DOC). Located along the so ...

and

Bucelas DOC Bucelas (historically known as ''Bucellas'') is a Portuguese wine-region located in the Lisboa VR, Lisboa wine-region. The region has Portugal's highest wine classification as a ''Denominação de Origem Controlada'' (DOC). Located south of the Arr ...

-there has been some spark of interest on the part of small independent winemakers to revive the historic legacy and indigenous grapes of the region so Carcavelos' fortunes may change in the future.A. Domine (ed.) ''Wine'', pg 676 Ullmann Publishing, 2008 .

Climate and geography

Typical of the Estremadura, Carcavelos has a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

that is moderated by its close proximity to the mouth of the

Tagus The Tagus ( ; ; ) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales between Cuenca and Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally westward, and empties into the Atlantic Ocean in Lisbon. Name T ...

river.

Grapes and winemaking

Carcavelos can be a blend of up to nine different grapes. The principal grapes of the Carcavelos region includes

Arinto Arinto or Arinto de Bucelas is a white Portuguese wine grape planted primarily in the Bucelas, Tejo and Vinho Verde regions. It can produce high acid wines with lemon notes. Synonyms Arinto is also known by the synonyms Arintho, Arintho du Dao ...

Boal Boal (Galician-Asturian: ''Bual'') is a municipality, a civil parish and a town in the Autonomous Community of the Principality of Asturias (Spain). It borders north with El Franco and Coaña, south with Illano, west with Castropol and east with ...

, Galego Dourado, Negra Mole,

Trincadeira Tinta Amarela or Trincadeira is a red wine grape that is commonly used in Port wine production. The grape is noted for its dark coloring. Its use in the Douro region has been increasing in recent years. The vine is susceptible to rot and perform ...

and Torneiro . The wines are usually

fermented Fermentation is a type of anaerobic metabolism which harnesses the redox potential of the reactants to make adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and organic end products. Organic compound, Organic molecules, such as glucose or other sugars, are Catabo ...

completely dry with some fermenting must known as the ''vinho abafado'' containing some

residual sugar The subjective sweetness of a wine is determined by the interaction of several factors, including the amount of sugar in the wine, but also the relative levels of alcohol, acids, and tannins. Sugars and alcohol enhance a wine's sweetness, while ...

set aside prior to the fermentation's completion. The wine is

fortified A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lat ...

with a

distilled Distillation, also classical distillation, is the process of separating the component substances of a liquid mixture of two or more chemically discrete substances; the separation process is realized by way of the selective boiling of the mixt ...

grape spirit A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...

to bring the wine up to an

alcohol level Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as alc/vol or ABV) is a common measure of the amount of alcohol contained in a given alcoholic beverage. It is defined as the volume the ethanol in the liquid would take if separated from the rest of the solution, ...

of 18-20% and the ''vinho abafado'' is added back in to add

sweetness Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketones ...

to the wine. Carcavelos wines are then aged in oak barrels for three to five years to give the wines a tawny color and nutty flavor.

References

{{coord missing, Portugal Wine regions of Portugal Portuguese products with protected designation of origin Carcavelos e Parede

History

Climate and geography

Grapes and winemaking

See also

References