Portuguese vines and wines: heritage, quality symbol, tourism asset

Abstract

This paper aims to showcase the value and uniqueness of Portuguese wines and wine regions. It has three independent but related parts. The first part focuses the millenary history of vines in Portugal and stresses their value for the regional and national economy. The second part focuses on the role of brands in the wine regions and wine marketing, highlighting the importance of the landscape in promotion. It is claimed that the use of landmarks can help create an identity image, useful for attracting tourism and wine advertising, being also a major asset for the Portuguese world trade of wines. Landmarks identification and promotional suggestions with landmarks related to Portuguese wine regions are presented. The third part presents a short revision of the panorama of wine tourism in Portugal and stresses the role of landscapes in its promotion. A literary route in the Douro Demarcated Region is presented by way of example.