Portuguese wine is the result of traditions introduced to the region by ancient civilizations, such as the
Phoenicians,
Carthaginians,
Greeks, and mostly the
Romans.
Portugal started to export its
wines to Rome during the
Roman Empire. Modern exports developed with trade to England after the
Methuen Treaty in 1703. From this commerce a wide variety of wines started to be grown in Portugal. And, in 1758, one of the first wine-producing region of the world, the
Região Demarcada do Douro was created under the orientation of
Marquis of Pombal, in the
Douro Valley. Portugal has two wine producing regions protected by UNESCO as
World Heritage: the
Douro Valley Wine Region (
Douro Vinhateiro) and
Pico Island Wine Region (
Ilha do Pico Vinhateira). Portugal has a big variety of local kinds, producing a very wide variety of different wines with distinctive personality.