Wine & spirits: Sip and save

Most regular wine shoppers are attracted to the bottle with the easiest name to pronounce. We tend to fear the unknown, which in the case of wine means unpronounceable names or unfamiliar regions and grapes. When was the last time you bought a bottle of Gazela, Terra Bõa or Grão Vasco? Yet the wines of Portugal are widely acknowledged among open-minded wine aficionados as having superb taste, a food-friendly nature and terrific value.

Setting aside the wines of the island of Madeira, which are fortified, and the islands of the Azores, which aren't available here, Portuguese wines come from the coast, plains or mountains.

Coastal wines hail from 10 regions that hug the Atlantic coast from Portugal's northern border with Spain to as far south as Lisbon. There, the influence of cool ocean breezes stretches inland up to 100 kilometres. Wines from the Vinho Verde and Bairrada regions, widely available in liquor stores here, tend to have a crisp leanness, fresh, juicy flavours and, occasionally, elegance and finesse.

The interior of Portugal consists of a large sparsely populated plain south and east of Lisbon, and a densely populated mountainous northern area. Without the moderating influence of the cold North Atlantic, summers in both regions are substantially hotter than those of the coast. Inland wines have higher alcohol contents, more body, greater richness and oomph.