Bairrada, evolving dop wine region in northern Portugal (see map under portugal). The coastal belt south of oporto has been producing wine since Portugal gained independence from the Moors in the 10th century. By the early 1700s, Bairrada’s dark, tannic red wines were widely drunk in Britain, masquerading as or blended with port from the douro Valley to the north. Then in 1756, as part of his measures to protect the authenticity of port (see delimitation), the Marquis of Pombal, Portugal’s powerful prime minister, ordered that Bairrada’s vineyards should be uprooted.
