Setúbal Peninsula (also known as Península de Setúbal) is the Portuguese wine region immediately southeast of Lisbon, across the Tejo estuary. The Terroir in the area ranges from sandy coastal plains to the craggy, limestone-rich Serra Arribida hills. The area is known for its Dry red wines made from Castelão, and for its fortified wines and Sweet Moscatel de Setúbal.
The wines produced here are made under three titles: two DOCs, Palmela and Setúbal, and one IGP.
The IGP (formerly VR, or Vinho Regional) has been officially named "Peninsula de Setúbal" since 2008, but before that was known as VR Terras do Sado, meaning "lands of the river Sado". The Sado is one of Portugal's major rivers, and flows North from the Caldeirão hills to Setúbal city, on the southern edge of the eponymous peninsula.
The Setúbal Peninsula's two DOC titles cover a similar area, but encompass different styles of wine. Palmela covers both the sandy plains and the hills, while Setúbal covers the land on the hills.
The Castelão Grape which comprises the majority of Palmela wines performs admirably on the dry, sandy soils, which is one of the few terroirs in Portugal where it can reach Full ripeness. Other Portuguese and international varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon, Touriga Nacional and Syrah are planted on the slopes hills.
The other DOC covering the peninsula, Setúbal, is for sweet fortified wines made from Muscat of Alexandria, here known as Moscatel de Setúbal. These are made slightly differently from Portugal's most famous fortified wine, Port, in that leftover grape skins are added to the wine after Mutage.
White muscat is a white grape variety of Greek origin. Present in several Mediterranean vineyards, it has several synonyms such as muscat de Die, muscat blanc and frontignac. In France, it occupies a little less than 7,000 ha out of a total of 45,000 ha worldwide. Its young shoots are downy. Its youngest leaves are shiny, bronzed and scabrous. The berries and bunches of this variety are all medium-sized. The flesh of the berries is juicy, sweet and firm. Muscat à petits grains has a second ripening period and buds early in the year. It is moderately vigorous and must be pruned short. It likes poor, stony slopes. This variety is often exposed to spring frosts. It fears mildew, wasps, grape worms, court-noué, grey rot and powdery mildew. Muscat à petits grains is used to make rosé wines and dry white wines. Orange, brown sugar, barley sugar and raisins are the known aromas of these wines.
wines from the region of Península de Setúbal go well with generally quite well with dishes of pasta, pork or shellfish such as recipes of pasta romantica, brazilian feijoada or chicken maffé (africa).
On the nose in the region of Península de Setúbal often reveals types of flavors of citrus, non oak or tropical fruit and sometimes also flavors of floral, vegetal or black fruit. In the mouth in the region of Península de Setúbal is a powerful.
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