page_title: History of Portuguese wine
section_title: Early history
hierarchical_section_title: History of Portuguese wine / Early history
caption_attribution_description: English: "Cupas", Roman tombstones carved into the shape of wooden wine barrels were, appropriately enough, used to mark the graves of ancient winemakers. When this tomb stone was carved about in the 3rd century AD, the Alentejo region of Portugal (the region around Evora) was already famous for its wines. Español: Inscripción funeraria romana procedente de Baleizao (Portugal) con la curiosa forma de un tonel de vino, correspondiente con la inscripción CIL II 106: D(is) M(anibus) s(acrum)/ L(ucius) I(ulius) Polibius (sic)/ ann(orum) LXXII/ h(ic) s(itus) e(st) s(it) t(ibi) t(erra) l(evis) Español: Hispania Epigraphica 21195
context_page_description: The history of Portuguese wine has been influenced by Portugal's relative isolationism in the world's wine market, with the one notable exception of its relationship with the British. Wine has been made in Portugal since at least 2000 BC when the Tartessians planted vines in the Sado and Tagus valleys. By the 10th century BC, the Phoenicians had arrived and introduced new grape varieties and winemaking techniques to the area. Up until this point, viticulture was mostly centered on the southern coastal areas of Portugal. In later centuries, the Ancient Greeks, Celts and Romans would do much to spread viticulture and winemaking further north.
  Portuguese wines were first shipped to England in the 12th century from the Entre Douro e Minho region. In 1386, Portugal and England signed the Treaty of Windsor which fostered close diplomatic relations between the two countries and opened the door for extensive trade opportunities. The 1703 Methuen Treaty furthered advanced English economic interest in Portugal by reducing tariffs and giving Portuguese wines preferential treatment in the British wine market over French wines.
context_section_description: Viticulture has existed on the Iberian Peninsula (home to modern day Spain and Portugal ) for thousands of years. The Tartessians are believed to have cultivated the first vineyards in the Tagus vineyards around 2000 BC. When the Phoenicians  reached the area in the 10th century BC, they brought with them grape varieties and winemaking techniques from the Middle East and Carthage. The Ancient Greeks settlers of the 7th century BC, furthered the advance of viticulture in Portugal and left evidence of their influence. In the area around the modern day town of Alcácer do Sal, archeologists have uncovered numerous pieces of cratera or Greek vases used to dilute wine with water with gives evidence of the Greeks drinking local Portuguese wine.
  When the Romans reached Portugal, they named the area Lusitania after Lusus, the son of the Roman god of wine Bacchus. As they did before in Italy, France, Germany and Spain, the Romans did much to expand and promote viticulture in their settlements in Portugal. Wines were produced across the territory for both local consumption as well as export to Rome. Vineyards extended further north and inland, being firmly established in places such as Douro by the end of Roman rule. Following the Fall of the Roman Empire, local barbarian tribes sustained the tradition and practice of viticulture in the area. In the mid-9th century AD, Ordoño the Gothic king of Asturias (in what is now northern Spain) granted vineyards and landowning privileges around Coimbra to a monastic Christian order in the area. While most historian's accounts of the history of wine following Roman rules suggest that the Christian Church took the lead in preserving viticulture across the former Roman empire, the evidence suggest that, at least in Portugal, the ruling authorities played an important role.
caption: "cupa", Roman tombstones into the shape of a wooden wine barrels, were used to mark the grave wine makers in the 3rd century AD in Alentejo, a region already famous for its wines, Museu de Évora
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