葡萄详情

Tinta Barroca (sometimes Tinta Barocca) is one of the most common red-wine varieties in the Douro Valley of northern Portugal. It is used most often to make Port, an application to which it is particularly well suited, as the grapes' naturally high sugar levels (and correspondingly high potential alcohol) make them extremely useful for fortified wine production.

Thanks to its generous yields, Tinta Barroca is extremely popular with growers; it is the third most widely planted variety in the Douro. It holds markedly less sway with winemakers, who prefer the quality of Touriga Franca and Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), the valley's most and second-most widely planted varieties.

An unfortunate (and potentially costly) characteristic of Tinta Barroca berries is their tendency to shrivel up during particularly hot weather. To mitigate this, they are most often planted on the cooler, higher slopes of the valley and on north-facing slopes, where they are protected from intense afternoon sunshine.

The Portuguese penchant for complex blends is largely to thank for Tinta Barroca's success. Although it does not produce varietal wines of any distinction, it excels as a blending component. There are just a handful of single-variety Tinta Barroca wines produced in the world, all of them in South Africa. Intense, super-ripe, high-alcohol Tinta Barroca has evolved into something of a trademark style for some vineyards of the Western Cape. A handful of producers here also use Tinta Barroca to make Port-style fortified wines in which Pinotage is a common blending partner.

Synonyms include: Tinta Barocca.

Food matches for Tinta Barroca include:

• Rump steak with grilled vegetables

• Churrasco beef

• Slow-roasted pork shoulder