The first demarcated wine region in Portugal was the Douro's region.
During the reign of D. José I, his minister Sebastião José
de Carvalho e Melo, who would get known in history as the Marquês de Pombal,
created the "Companhia Geral da Agricultura das Vinhas do Alto Douro", based
in Oporto, with order to limit the influence of English in the trades of Douro
Wine and resolve the crisis that the region lived.
![]() |
Fonte: http://www.ateneulivros.com/website/?attachment_id=11602 |
Composed by the leading wine producers in the Alto Douro and
the great merchants of Oporto, the Company should sustain the cultivation of
vineyards and maintain their production in its original purity.
The first reference to Port Wine date 1678.