Portugal: History

The British have always enjoyed an amicable relationship with the Portuguese. As early as the 12th century, wines were being shipped to England from the minho in north west Portugal. In 1386, the Treaty of Windsor set the seal on a friendship that has persisted, virtually uninterrupted, to the present day. When England went to war with France in the 17th century, Portugal was therefore the natural alternative source for wine. port, often called ‘the Englishman’s wine’, originated from this conflict. By the time England and Portugal signed the methuen treaty in 1703, which laid down tariff advantages for Portuguese wines, a thriving community of English and German wine shippers was already well established in oporto. Out in the Atlantic, the island of madeira, an important trading post for passing ships, began exporting wine to the newly colonized state and yet-to-be united states of America. Renewed conflict between Britain and France over the French invasion of the Iberian peninsula in 1807 rekindled demand for Portuguese wines. bucelas, carcavelos, and a red wine simply called ‘Lisbon’ were popular in Britain until the 1870s.