Touriga Nacional In Australia

In Australia this variety is normally referred to just as 'Touriga'.  There are about 70 Australian producers making wine from this variety, therefore it is one of the top ten alternative red wines.  Touriga Franca is rare or perhaps absent from Australia.

Port wine on the decline

Touriga Nacional is best known as a variety for producing Port and port-style wines, but it is increasingly used to make table wines.

In Portugal's Douro Valley Touriga Nacional, along with Touriga Franca, Tinto Cao and Tinta Roriz (aka Tempranillo) are commonly blended to make port wine.  There are many other minor varieties used as well but these are main ones.

Only wines produced in Portugal are now permitted to be called Port. In the rest of the world similar wines are still produced under a variety of names, often including the word "fortified".

Port and other fortified red wines have declined markedly in popularity over recent decades and many vineyards which used to make Port and "Port" are used for table wines/

Iberian varieties used in Australia

These varieties, now used in Australia, all originated in Spain or Portugal

Albarino | Arinto | Cabernet Franc | Graciano | Grenache | Grenache gris | Mataro/Mourvedre | Mencia | Palomino | Pedro Ximenez | Prieto Picudo | Souzao | Tempranillo | Tinto Cao | Tinta Negra Molle | Touriga | Trincadeira | Verdejo | Verdelho

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You can learn about the regions of Spain and Portugal with this digital map

Learn about Iberian wine regions with this map

Click for details

Touriga in Australia

In Australia the variety that is usually called Touriga is nearly always Touriga Nacional. There is another variety named Touriga Francesa, which is grown by Grey Sands Winery in Northern Tasmania's Tamar Valley.

In California wineries are more likely to be referring to  Touriga Francesa when they talk about Touriga.

Touriga was, and still is,  used in Australia to make fortified wines. But Touriga also makes good table wines, either as a varietal or as a blending partner with other red varieties such as Tempranillo.

The strong perfumed flavours and firm tannins of Touriga can be captured in table wines. The Portuguese use it for this purpose in several DOC regions, most often blended with other varieties.

Many of the Australian wineries listed below use Touriga mostly in blends to make table wines. Yarra Yering have made a Touriga dominant blend for many years under the label Dry Red No 3. This is a top end wine retailing at up to $100.

• 4382 Terroir Granite Belt
• Alejandro Riverland
• Alpha Box and Dice McLaren Vale
• Amadio Adelaide Hills
• Angullong Wines Orange
• Artwine Adelaide Hills
• Atze's Corner Wines Barossa Valley
• Balancing Heart Wines Granite Belt
• Ballandean Estate Granite Belt
• Ballycroft Barossa Valley
• Banrock Station Riverland
• Bassham Wines Riverland
• Beach Road McLaren Vale
• Bellwether Coonawarra
• Big Easy Radio McLaren Vale
• Bird in Hand Adelaide Hills
• Brown Brothers King Valley
• Bruno and George Barossa Valley
• By Jingo Adelaide Hills
• Calabria Family Wines Riverina
• Catlin Wines Adelaide Hills
• Chalk Hill Winery McLaren Vale
• Cirami Estate Riverland
• Cloudbreak Wines Adelaide Hills
• Colab and Bloom Adelaide Hills
• Coriole McLaren Vale
• Curator Barossa Valley
• De Iuliis Hunter Valley
• Delinquente Wine Riverland
• Di Giorgio Coonawarra
• Dr Plonk McLaren Vale
• Dune McLaren Vale
• Epsilon Barossa Valley
• Feathertop Alpine Valleys
• First Drop Barossa Valley
• First Ridge Mudgee
• Five O’Clock Somewhere McLaren Vale
• Frederick Stevenson Barossa Valley
• Galli Estate Heathcote
• Gapsted Wines Alpine Valleys
• Georges Folly Currency Creek
• Gibson Barossa Valley
• Good Doctor Wine Group McLaren Vale
• Gracebrook Vineyards King Valley
• Grand Casino Riverland
• Granite Rose Mornington Peninsula
• Grove Estate Wines Hilltops
• Harvey River Estate Geographe
• Haselgrove McLaren Vale
• Hesketh Wines Barossa Valley
• Hugh Hamilton McLaren Vale
• Il Cattivo Currency Creek
• Kangarilla Road McLaren Vale
• Kimbolton Langhorne Creek
• Kirrihill Estates Clare Valley
• Kyara Eden Valley
• La Fattoria Perth Hills
• La Madrina McLaren Vale
• La Prova Adelaide Hills
• Langmeil Barossa Valley
• Lingo Adelaide Hills
• Lino Ramble McLaren Vale
• Lion Mill Vineyards Perth Hills
• Lonely Vineyard Eden Valley
• Lost Penny Barossa Valley
• Loverman Adelaide Hills
• Marnong Estate Sunbury
• Matriarch and Rouge Calre Valley
• Mercer Hunter Valley
• Merindoc Heathcote
• Mr Riggs Wine Company McLaren Vale
• Myattsfield Vineyard and Winery Perth Hills
• New Era Adelaide Hills
• Next Crop Wines Langhorne Creek
• Nikola Estate Swan Valley
• Noble Road Clare Valley
• Oak Works Riverland
• Orbis McLaren Vale
• Otherness Barossa Valley
• Paracombe Wines Adelaide Hills
• Paulmara Estate Barossa Valley
• Peter Drayton Wines Hunter Valley
• Pindarie Wines Barossa Valley
• Pirate Cru Barossa Valley
• Project Wine Langhorne Creek
• Prometheus Riverland
• Purple Hands Wines Barossa Valley
• Ravensworth Wines Canberra
• Red Feet King Valley
• Redheads Barossa Valley
• Ringer Reef Winery Alpine Valleys
• Robert Stein Mudgee
• Rolf Binder Barossa Valley
• Salena Estate Riverland
• Saltram Barossa Valley
• Savina Lane Granite Belt
• SC Pannell McLaren Vale
• Scarpantoni Estate McLaren Vale
• Seabrook Barossa Valley
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• Sfera Limestone Coast Zone
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• Signor Vino Riverina
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• St Ignatius Vineyard Pyrenees
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• The Overflow Queensland Zone
• The Pawn Wine Company Adelaide Hills
• Thistledown McLaren Vale
• Tscharke Barossa Valley
• Unico Zelo Adelaide Hills
• Vineyard 28 Geographe
• Wangolina Mount Benson
• Warburn Estate Riverina
• Way Wood Wines McLaren Vale
• Whistling Kite Wines Riverland
• Wines By Farquhar Barossa Valley
• Woodstock McLaren Vale
• Yarran Wines Riverina

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