Culture of Portugal associated Portugal with its God of Wine Bacchus. Today, many Portuguese wines are known as some of the world's best: Vinho do Douro, Vinho do Alentejo, Vinho do Dão, Vinho Verde, Rosé and the sweet: Port wine (Vinho do Porto, literally Porto's wine), Madeira wine, Muscatel of Setúbal, and Moscatel of Favaios. Beer is also widely consumed, with the largest national beer brands being Sagres and Super Bock. Liqueurs, like Licor Beirão and ginjinha, are popular. Portuguese literature has developed since the 12th century from the lyrical works of João Soares de Paiva, Paio Soares de Taveirós and King D.Dinis.
Alentejo wine created as separate "Indicação de Proveniencia Regulamentada" (IPR) wine regions, after which some were elevated to DOC status. In 2003, these separate DOCs and IPRs were put together as the Alentejo DOC. Listed from north to south the eight subregions are the following. The principal grapes of the Alentejo region includes Abundante, Alfrocheiro Preto, Alicante Bouschet, Antão Vaz, Arinto, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan, Chardonnay, Diagalves, Fernão Pires, Grand noir, Manteudo, Moreto, Palomino, Periquita, Rabo de Ovelha, Tempranillo, and Trincadeira. 5. Gregory V. Jones, https://web.archive.org/web/20130908201932/http://www.sou.edu/envirostudies/jones.html Alentejo wine Alentejo ("Vinho do Alentejo", Alentejo wines) is a Portuguese wine region located in the Alentejo