Vinho Regional, second tier of designated wine regions in Portugal. Although new terms Indicação Geográfica Protegida (IGP), sometimes shortened to Indicação Geográfica (IG), meaning Protected Geographical Indication (pgi), have been introduced since the eu wine market reforms of 2008, most Portuguese regions have chosen to keep the old denomination Vinho Regional (VR).
These large regions covering entire provinces—minho, Transmontano, duriense for wines from the Douro, beira atlântico, Terras do Dão, terras da beira, tejo, lisboa, Alentejano for the alentejo, península de setúbal, algarve, and Terras Madeirenses for madeira—allow greater flexibility in terms of permitted grape varieties and ageing requirements. The Vinho Regional denomination is therefore popular with innovative winemakers wishing to bottle relatively young wines or blend Portuguese and international varieties. In the centre and south of the country (Lisboa, Tejo, Península de Setúbal, and the Alentejo), producers are largely ignoring the docs in favour of Vinho Regional.
