There is a lot more to Portuguese wine than port and madeira – remember Mateus?

When it comes to wine, Portugal is usually associated with port and madeira. These days, however, the southern European country is producing many other wines, too.

Yes, Portugal is sunny and warm, but up in the northwest, along the windy Atlantic coast, there is a cool hilly refuge for wine grapes. Vinho verde (“green wine”), which refers to young wines, is a refreshing style of white wine that is low in alcohol (about 11 per cent) with a vibrantly fresh acidity. Some vinhos verdes have a gentle fizz that’s apparent when the bottle is freshly opened – a leftover from the effects of carbon dioxide on fermentation.

Vinhos verdes can range from dry to off-dry depending on the wine­maker, and the grapes can be of a variety that are blended together. There’s even red vinho verde, which is rarely exported as most of it is consumed in Portugal; it’s made primarily from an indigenous grape called vinhao.

Vinho verde should be consumed young – within a year of its vintage. Lightly chilled, it’s the perfect wine for a sunny day, delicious with a salad or a simple seafood dish.

The Douro Valley, which is home to the great port houses, is also where robust reds worthy of cellaring are produced. Bairrada, made from the baga grape, is a voluptuously full-bodied wine that has high acids and tannins in its youth, which, with age, mellow into an enjoyable sip that’s savoury, slightly peppery, malty and chocolatey with flavours of dark fruit.