Photo source: wine mag

Alcobaça is a city and a municipality in the Oeste region, in Central Portugal, formerly included in the Estremadura Province. The city grew along the valleys of the rivers Alcoa and Baça, from which it derives its name. The municipality population in 2011 was 56,693 in an area of 408.14 km². The city proper has a population of 15,800 inhabitants.

Alcobaça is also a Portuguese wine region centered on the town of Alcobaça in the Estremadura region. The region was initially an Indicação de Proveniencia Regulamentada (IPR) region, but in 2005 it became one of two subregions of the Encostas d’Aire DOC, which has Denominação de Origem Controlada (DOC) status. Its name may still be indicated together with that of Encostas d’Aire, as Encostas d’Aire-Alcobaça.[1]

The region produces predominantly white wines with lower alcohol levels then it neighboring wine regions on in Estremadura.[2]

The principal grapes of the Alcobaça region include Arinto, Baga, Fernao Pires, Malvasia, Periquita, Tamarez, Trincadeira and Vital.