The Vinho Verde Country

Vinho verde is not a grape or a colour but a region: the whole northwest corner of Portugal between the Douro and the Minho, wet, green and built on granite. It is the country's largest demarcated wine area, and its oldest habit is training vines high, on pergolas and up living trees, so that the ground underneath could still grow maize and vegetables on smallholdings too small to waste. The wines are light, sharply acidic and often carry a faint prickle of gas. The sub-region of Moncao and Melgaco on the river border is the exception that changed the region's reputation, making serious single-variety Alvarinho with weight and the ability to age.

What you actually see

• The high-trained vines - pergolas and vines run up trees over working ground.
• Alvarinho country - Moncao and Melgaco along the Minho river border.
• The quintas - manor estates offering tastings, many of them with rooms.
• The granite landscape - stone posts, stone walls and relentless green.

When to go

May and June for green countryside before the summer crowds, or September for a harvest that comes early here. The Minho is the wettest corner of Portugal and winter is genuinely wet, so spring to autumn is the window. Estates take visits by appointment more often than not, so arrange tastings before setting out for the day.

Honest expectations

The region is spread thin: estates sit far apart on small roads with no single wine route tying them together, so a car and a driver who is not tasting are effectively required. The cheap supermarket version of vinho verde, sweetened and fizzy, has set low expectations that the good bottles still have to work against. Rain is not a small risk.

Nearby

Braga, Guimaraes and the Peneda-Geres uplands all lie within or beside the region.