Portuguese wine history is longer than the foundation of Portugal. It is believed that wine was first planted in the Iberian Peninsula (in the Tagus and Sado Valley) around 2000 B.C. by the Tartessians. The Phoenicians took over the Tartessian trade, including wine trade around 10th century B.C. and have introduced new grape varieties. In the 7th century B.C. the Greeks settled in the Iberian Peninsula and developed wine growing. In the 6th century B.C. the Celts brought their own grape varieties into the Iberian Peninsula.
The Romans arrived into the Iberian Peninsula during the 2nd century B. C. and contributed to the modernization of the vine culture. With fall of the Roman Empire the wine has continued to be produced by the subsequent civilizations.
With the foundation of Portugal wine was Portugal’s most exported product. A major boost in winemaking and wine exports happened in the second half of the 14th century. In the 15th and 16th centuries with the Portuguese Discoveries, the vessels and galleons sailing always carried wine. The Methwen treaty of 1703 opened trading between Portugal and England, setting up special duty rights for the penetration of Portuguese wine in England and wine exports experienced a major increase. In 1756 the Port wine was already so famous that with the purpose of regulating the region’s wine production and trade was officially created the Alto Douro wine region, the first delimited region for wine in the world. In the 19th century the phylloxera plague devastated large areas of Portuguese vineyards. In late 19th century wine production started a slow recovery. In the beginning of the 20th century several wine regions were demarcated and in 1986 the regions were re-defined as Portuga started to be part of the European Union.
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