Cova da Beira wine Cova da Beira wine Cova da Beira is a Portuguese wine region centered on the Cova da Beira region between the Dão and Vinho Verde DOCs in the wider Beiras VR wine region. Cova da Beira was initially a separate "Indicação de Proveniencia Regulamentada" (IPR) region (and was the largest IPR in Portugal in terms of land planted with vines), but in 2005, it became one of three subregions of the Beira Interior DOC, which has the higher "Denominação de Origem Controlada" (DOC) status. Its name may still be indicated together with that of Beira Interior, as Beira Interior-Cova da
Vinho Verde from Espadeiro and Padeiro grapes. The Romans Seneca the Younger and Pliny the Elder both made reference to vines in the area between the rivers Douro and Minho. A record exists of a winery being donated to the Alpendurada convent in Marco de Canaveses in 870 AD, and the vineyards seem to have expanded over the following centuries, planted by religious orders and encouraged by tax breaks. Wines were mostly produced for domestic consumption, although Vinho Verde may have been exported in the 12th century, to England, Germany, and Flanders. The first definite exports to England are recorded by John