78 Port anD the Douro
It appears Tinta Roriz does indeed perform better at higher altitudes than in the valley,
where an excess was planted in the 1980s and 1990s, much of it on a very productive
rootstock – R99. Relatively easy to grow, it is favoured by growers rather than winemakers.
Roriz sprouts vertically and has a short vegetative cycle, budding late, which reduces the
damage from spring frosts. Tinta Roriz is the first variety to show stress from the heat
but ripens early, thereby enabling picking before the onset of autumn rains. Quality can
vary alarmingly. Roriz has a tendency to over-produce and it performs best in those years
when yields are inherently low. João Nicolau de Almeida of Ramos Pinto calculates that it
normally produces 2.5 kilos per vine but is at its best with 1.4 kilos. Roriz is very sensitive
to September rainfall, leading rapidly to dilution of colour and strength. In years of
naturally high yields like 2010, Roriz produces dull, weedy wines of no great merit. One
grower in the Douro claims that it only does really well in two years out of every ten and
another went on to describe it as a puta (whore)! Certainly, declared Port vintages tend to
be years in which Tinta Roriz has performed well. It is increasingly left out of premium
Douro reds. Pedro Leal da Costa, who manages the Symington’s vineyards, believes that
Tinta Roriz is a grape for alkaline soils (e.g. Rioja) rather than the more acidic schist and
granite of northern Portugal.
With a total hectarage of 17,020, Tinta Roriz / Aragonez is the second most planted
grape variety in Portugal.
tinta Barroca
Known in the nineteenth century as Boca da Mina, Tinta Grossa, Tinta Vigaria and Tinta
Gorda (‘fat red’), this productive grape variety only became known as Tinta Barroca in
- Today it stands just behind Roriz in the popularity stakes, making up about 11 per
cent or nearly 4,500 hectares of the Douro’s vineyards. Tinta Barroca is favoured by growers
for yielding large quantities of grapes with exceptionally high levels of sugar. As one of the
five varieties authorised for replanting under the PDRITM scheme in the 1980s, Barroca is
mainly found in the Cima Corgo region, often at higher altitudes on cooler, north-facing
slopes where other varieties might face difficulties in ripening. With a thin skin, Barroca is
easily damaged by extreme heat, and the berries have a tendency to raisinise or shrivel on
the vine. On a south-facing slope – as at Dow’s Quinta do Bomfim, where it accounts for a
significant proportion of the vineyard – Barroca will yield 2.5 kilos per vine, at the same time
as producing must with a Baumé of 15 or 16 degrees. Depending on where the grapes are
grown, Barocca wines vary from being pale to quite deep in colour, supple and reasonably
well structured, sometimes jammy, but always with a distinctly rustic, earthy overtone. The
wines lose a considerable amount of colour after about fifteen years in bottle. Barroca is
primarily a Port grape that almost never bottled as a varietal red and there are few instances
where it is planted outside the Douro or Trás-os-Montes. Tinta Barroca has, however, made
a successful foray into South Africa where it is also used primarily for fortified wines.