Tinto Cão, meaning ‘red dog’, top-quality black grape variety for the production of port. Having almost disappeared from the vineyards of the douro Valley in northern Portugal (despite its long history there), it is being planted with greater enthusiasm since it was identified as one of the five finest port varieties, although it is not one of the deepest coloured nor especially productive. It is also grown for varied table wines in the Dão region and has also been planted experimentally at davis in California, and in Australia were it has been known as Tinta Cao.
