The history of Portuguese wine can be traced back thousands of years – in Roman times wines from the western Iberian Peninsula were being shipped to the imperial capital.  In the 1700s Portugal emerged as a major exporter to another imperial power, Britain, as war with France led to the rise in popularity of fortified ‘port’ wine – the international appeal of this rich and luxuriant product of the Douro Valley has endured to the present.  Portugal also produces unfortified red and white wines, making the most of the vast number of grape varieties unique to the country.