The "common identity" of the wines from Minho and Galicia, in Spain, will come together in June in Valença in the first cross-border wine exhibition Vinhos do Atlântico, where oenology will meet heritage, the organization revealed today.

"The goal of the event is to give international visibility to this reality that is the cross-border wine 'terroir', with wines from the Iberian Northwest and producers from the Demarcated Region of Vinhos Verdes and Galicia", Andreia Pereira, from the organization of Vinhos do Atlântico - Exposição do Noroeste, scheduled for June 14 and 15 in Valença, in the district of Viana do Castelo, explained to Lusa.

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The person in charge also clarified that the initiative aims to "create a connection, in terms of communication, between the wines from Minho and Galicia, starting from the assumption that they have a common identity", namely "a very similar natural context", but also "identical grape varieties on both sides of the border and a way of making wine that results in wines with a specific profile, regardless of the side of the border where you are".

Seven Galician producers and eight from the Demarcated Region of Vinhos Verdes have already confirmed their presence at the wine exhibition, which will take place between 6 pm and midnight at the Fortress of Valença, added the spokesperson for the organization of the event promoted by the municipality of Valença.

In addition to promoting wine, the event also aims to "promote the joint history and memory of the cross-border territory" of Minho and Galicia, which is why it includes, in the program, wine tasting routes "in emblematic places of the fortress, commented by heritage technicians and oenologists".

This "wine experience route" is free to participate in but requires mandatory registration and has a limited number of places, explained Andreia Pereira.

The mayor of Valença, José Manuel Carpinteira, highlighted the importance of the municipality with "the busiest border on the Iberian Peninsula", located in a "territory with over six million inhabitants" and "in the center of a region where wine plays a leading role".

"We have the geographical conditions to work and offer in the promotion of a differentiating event, which has history and wine as its protagonists", he stated.

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In a press release, the organization states that the biogeographic unit of the Iberian Northwest "is the birthplace of a set of wines that share a very unique identity".

"In Portugal, they are known as 'Vinhos Verdes', a demarcated wine region since 1908, while in Galicia they are divided into several designations of origin", it describes.

At stake is "a similar genetic heritage and edaphoclimatic context" with grape varieties such as Alvarinho, Loureiro, Trajadura and Galeguinho, "sharing ancestral wisdom and an art of knowing how to make wine refined over centuries of a common history".

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