Port anD the Douro 79tinta amarela
Excluded from the famous five, Tinta Amarela is nevertheless very significant in the Douro
where it represents around 5 per cent of the total vine stock. It is a grape that may be Tunisian
in origin but crops up in various places in Portugal under a number of different names.
Officially listed by the IVV as Trincadeira, it has also travelled in the name of Espadeiro
(Lisbon region), Crato Preto, Murteira and Rabo de Ovelha Tinto (Vinho Verde).
Tinta Amarela is a notoriously tetchy grape, very susceptible to apical growth and disease.
Due to its tightly packed bunches, Tinta Amarela is particularly prone to rot in damp weather
and choice of location is therefore crucial to its success. A canopy management programme
and clonal selection would surely help. It is surprising that so much Tinta Amarela has
been planted in the Baixo Corgo where it accounts for as much as 20 per cent of the vine
stock, mostly interplanted amongst other varieties. However, on well-exposed arid soils in
the Cima Corgo and Douro Superior Tinta Amarela produces deep-coloured wines, fruity
but herbaceous if picked before it is fully ripe, taking on a peppery-spicy character under
the right conditions. Dirk Niepoort, who produces Batuta and Redoma, both of which
contain a considerable amount of Tinta Amarela, is a fan. Although it is not a variety with
a particularly deep colour, he believes it produces refined, balanced wines with good levels
of acidity. Tinta Amarela is an excellent variety for the Douro Superior. It has certainly fared
well in parts of the Alentejo where, under the name Trincadeira, it has quickly become
established as one of Portugal’s leading red wine grapes.
Occupying a total area of 14,220 hectares, Tinta Amarela / Trincadeira is the fourth
most planted grape variety in Portugal.
Mourisco
Officially there are two red grapes by the name of Mourisco: Mourisco de Semente and
Mourisco de Trevões. Miguel Corte Real (ex-Cockburn) maintains that Mourisco de Semente
is the best of the two and is very similar to Tinta de Barca (see below). Most winemakers
in the Douro do not make the distinction and tend to have a love–hate relationship with
Mourisco, a variety that came to prominence in the nineteenth century due to its resistance
to phylloxera. Villa Maior was a fan, describing Mourisco ‘as one of the finest and most
precious kinds cultivated in the Douro’. Nowadays the sentiment is mostly hate for the pale,
fat Mourisco resembles a table grape rather than a wine variety. It is difficult to pollinate
and is therefore subject to poor fruit set unless interplanted in the old-fashioned way with
other varieties, particularly Tinta Roriz. There are few instances where Mourisco crops up
on its own, but it is often found in old vineyards all over the Douro and therefore makes up
around 4 per cent of the total vineyard area, making it the fifth most planted red variety in
the region. Cockburn’s were one of Mourisco’s few fans and planted a significant amount in
their Vilariça vineyard. Although it produces pale-coloured wine, Mourisco is rich in sugar
and therefore provides a good, aromatic base for old tawny Port. It is almost never seen as
a varietal, even in the rarefied tasting rooms of Vila Nova de Gaia. Mourisco is also planted
throughout Trás-os-Montes where (along with Alvarelhão) it is the progenitor of semi-sweet