Grape Varieties: Portugal VS France

Portugal VS France. In the wine world, France and Portugal are big competitors, even if silent to the general public. Big coorporations look to export, to improve, more and more. Therefore, the mix of grape varieties in one country due to settlements and opportunities is a reality? But is it the way? The right way? This extract of an opinion article written by Paul J.White, a North American wine critic, with profound knowledge in Portuguese wines and based in New Zealand for WINE magazine, in March 2013 exposes the opposing sides in the wine business, a fight not known by the general public. It raises very important questions. Should grape varieties be restricted to the country of origin? How can they affect an entire industry? And how important is the history, the tradition of a country to its wine?

If Portuguese people want Viognier, well, they better look for it in southern France, where it is abundant, good and cheap. You won’t find me drinking Australian wine to understand the real potential of the French Touriga, the Encruzado or Sercial.

As you probably already know, I believe that choosing to plant French grape varieties over Portuguese ones is a big mistake. Isn’t it better to focus on the varieties that helped the country evolve and try elaborate the best possible wine from them? That being said, we need just to pour the wine into the glasses of consumers and let it express for itself. I admit that it is easier for me to state it than to those that must make a living off the wine and sell it.

The french varieties are planted mainly in Lisbon, Tejo, Bairrada and the region of Alentejo. The reasoning is complicated. The first three regions, with a strong Atlantic influence, have fresher climates, which make the growth and consistent ripening of the grapes harder, so they decide to adopt other varieties, easier to cultivate and sell. The Portuguese response to the New World, Alentejo boomed out into the market in more recent years. With the exception of a few traditional producers, the majority lacks a long record of autochthonous plantations of grape varieties, therefore they possess a greater flexibility choosing on what to plant. If some of the main problems in Alenjeto reside on its hot climate, in which the grapes sometimes over ripen, amass excessive alcohol and lack some of the natural acidity, the experimentation with french grape varieties ended up resulting in the discovery of solutions to tackle these problems. Yet, the rise in french grape varieties has also created a problem of identity in all of these regions.

Douro, Dão, Vinho Verde and Madeira have strong personalities directly related to the grape varieties of the region and the traditional style of their wines. However, what about the regions I mentioned before? Where do their identities reside? How are their real types of wines? Do they truthfully express themselves in Portuguese, in Portuguese with a French accent or in French with an emphasis on the Portuguese, or even so, simply, in bad French?

Usually I get two main reasons to explain the use of French grape varieties in Portugal. One suggests a tendency in the Portuguese market for the French grape varieties of the moment. One other defends that the foreign markets can’t understand Portuguese varieties, reason why it’s easier to sell wines made up from the familiar French varieties. I’m not convinced. It’s understandable that Portuguese consumers want to try the flavors of the moment in San Francisco, London, Buenos Aires or Hong Kong. If Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Viognier and other French grape varieties are standard there, why couldn’t the Portuguese try them as well? It’s only fair. But it raises some concerns. Will Portugal be able to produce French varieties as good and interesting as the ones cultivated in their country of origin? (…) Yes, all is possible but from my experience Portuguese wines made from French grape varieties rarely live up to the quality of the ones made in other parts of the world.

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About the other reason I hear for the opting by French varieties?... I’ve been saying that American, Canadian, British, Scandinavian and Asian consumers don’t know the Portuguese grape varieties and even have some difficulty pronouncing them, for which they end up opting for the more familiar French varieties. But that doesn’t explain why those same consumers have gotten used to search for wines from grape varieties such as the Italian Fiano or Aglicano, or the Spanish Mencía and Albariño, during the last decade. If today they are among the most renowned wines in the world, five years ago they were virtually unknown.

(…)

The honest truth is that for every grapevine planted in Portugal with a French grape variety one other had to be torn off or replaced. Which leads me to point out the solution I prefer. Why plant French grape varieties in Portugal when there are so many other good native varieties that can yield much more result?

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What if the Portuguese grape varieties were to be widely spread throughout the country, regardless from the regions of origin, being tested at other locations? That would be much better than trying to follow the already exhausted obsession of the New World for French varieties. Instead of looking to copy the tendencies with a predictable end, wouldn’t it be better if we anticipated the ones to come?

page 12-14 of Wine maganize, March 2013 edition