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 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