White wines of Tejo ‘the next Vinho Verde’

White wines from the Portuguese region of Tejo have the potential to become “the next Vinho Verde”, believes Sarah Abbot MW, who describes the region as an “undiscovered corner of an underestimated country.”

Sarah Abbot MW, brand ambassador for Wines of Tejo, and Luis de Castro, president of Wines of Tejo

Located north of Lisbon along the River Tejo, and north of Alentejo, Tejo produces a diverse range of wines, including red, white, rosé and traditional method sparkling wines.

In the past, Tejo region had in the past been known for producing high-volume, good value, but generic wines – a reputation Wines of Tejo is working to leave behind.

Over the past 15 years, producers have ripped out a third of its vineyards from high fertile soils and have instead been focusing on lower production from more premium sites.

Today it is the fifth largest wine producing region in Portugal, and is in the middle of a three year marketing push to reposition itself as a premium wine region, informed by research by Wine Intelligence, commissioned by Wines of Tejo.

Key markets it is targeting include the UK, the US, Poland, Brazil and German, with Wines of Tejo also conducting a tasting of 200 wines each year with industry professionals to help guide the region toward better quality wines.

GRUBBED UP

“One of the key things that came out with Tejo is that it is an undiscovered corner of an underestimated country,” said Sarah Abbot MW, brand ambassador, speaking to the drinks business at the London Wine Fair.

“What they used to have a lot of in Tejo was very well made reliable wines, and to a price. What they have been doing in the last 15 years is a lot of the vineyards have been grubbed up and all the vineyards are of higher quality soils.

“The fertile soils that used to pump out perfectly nice but generic house wines are gone. We now have these small sites coming up and there’s lots of opportunity for people to do really interesting things here.”

Explaining the region’s strategy, Abbot said that the on-trade would be of particular importance to help raise the region’s reputation.

“A key objective for Tejo was to get recognition for what’s happening there,” she said. “When you have a region that was previously totally off that radar, no one had any concept of Tejo. It was making high volume drinkable brands. When you challenge that you really have to work with a highly credible on-trade that’s seen as a arbiter of taste, and that’s really the attraction of the UK market.

“The main objective was to get recognition for the new higher quality wines. The vineyard area as gone down by a third so that whole pumping out thing its not where they are anymore.”

SECRET WEAPON

Its native red grapes include Touriga Nacional, Trincadeira and Castelão, while Fernão Pires, Alvarinho and Arinto are three of its most important white varieties. With regards to reds, Abbot believes Alicante Bouschet to be Tejo’s “secret weapon”, describing it as a “plush, hedonistic” style of wine, noting that some of the oldest plantings of the variety are in Portugal.

Its white wines meanwhile have the potential to be held in as high a regard as Vinho Verde, believes Abbot.

“I think for slightly more engaged consumers that have an awareness of Portugal, there’s the angle that Tejo is the new fresh image of Portugal. Within that Portugal context there’s huge versatility. We know that Portuguese white wines are very driven by Vinho Verde, but also Dão is really creating a buzz. There’s talk of Tejo being the next thing beyond Vinho Verde, if you like.”