Portugal's Douro Valley is one of the world's oldest demarcated wine regions, but it is its newest varieties that are drawing the attention of the critics.
In recent years, vintages such as Quinta do Crasto Reserva 2005 and Quinta do Vallado Touriga Nacional Douro Red 2008 have respectively been awarded the rank of No3 and No7 in Wine Spectator's top 100 of the year. Quinta Vale Dona Maria 2009 Douro Red scored 96 Parker points, one of many recent wines from the region to get a score or more than 90 from the critic.
The spectacularly steep valley has been home to winemakers for 2,000 years, but over the past 300 they have tended to concentrate on producing port. Some 20 years ago a younger generation of winemakers decided to focus on high-quality table wines.
The Douro Boys are not a Portuguese boy band, but a group of five leading families and estates (quinta), who came to together to 'put Douro on the map'. The families are the Olazabals from Quinta do Vale Meao, the Roquettes from Quinta do Crasto, the Van Zellers from Quinta Vale Dona Maria, the Ferreiras from Quinta do Vallado and the Niepoorts from Quinta de Napoles.
The steep sides of the river banks give winemakers three types of soil in which to grow - alluvial at the base, moving through schist to granite at the top.
While each type of soil has an impact on the flavour of the wines, it is the vines grown on granite that are said to produce the very best. The steep slopes mean that many terraces have been built by hand and that much of the harvesting is also done manually. In keeping with tradition, much of the crushing of the grapes is done by foot.