red grape · regional staple
Portugieser
Lower Styria, present-day Slovenia
Say it
por·too·gee·zer
German for 'Portuguese person'; stress on third syllable; -g- is a hard stop before the long -ee- vowel
On the palate
raspberrystrawberryred cherryvioletearthblack pepper
How you spot it blind: soft, low-tannin red berry wine ready to drink within weeks of harvest
The story
First written down · 1772, Bad Vöslau, Lower Austria
DNA analysis by the Julius Kühn Institute confirmed Portugieser is a natural cross of Grüner Silvaner and Blaue Zimmettraube — both Central European varieties — disproving the popular legend of an 1772 import from Porto.
Family tree: Grüner Silvaner × Blaue Zimmettraube
Where it lives
Rheinhessen, Germany · Pfalz, Germany · Württemberg, Germany · Thermenregion, Austria · Villány, Hungary
Shows up as
still redrosésparkling
If you like this, try
Also answers to Blauer Portugieser.
Shop our Portugieser bottles