Trás-os-Montes wine Trás-os-Montes wine Trás-os-Montes is a Portuguese wine region located in the Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro region. The entire wine region is entitled to use the "Vinho Regional" designation Transmontano VR, while some areas are also classified at the higher "Denominação de Origem Controlada" (DOC) level under the designation Trás-os-Montes DOC. VR is similar to the French "vin de pays" and DOC to the French AOC. Located in the northeastern corner of Portugal, the Trás-os-Montes region has vineyards across a wide range of altitudes that produces a vast spectrum of wine. The vineyards in the cooler high altitude produces wines that
Vinho Verde they are usually consumed soon after bottling. A Vinho Verde can also be a sparkling, a Late Harvest or even Brandy. In its early years of production, the slight effervesce of the wine came from malolactic fermentation taking place in the bottle. In winemaking this is usually considered a wine fault but Vinho Verde producers found that consumers liked the slightly fizzy nature. However, the wines had to be packaged in opaque bottles in order to hide the unseemly turbidity and sediment that the "in-bottle MLF" produced. Today, most Vinho Verde producers no longer follow this practice with the slight