One of the more pleasurable tasks undertaken this year was as a guest judge at the Concurso Vinhos de Portugal in Lisbon. Portugal is still widely associated in older British minds with Port and Madeira, so it would be no exaggeration to say that the tasting was a revelation for two reasons. From a country with a reputation as a producer of blended wines, it was interesting to follow the trend towards single grape varieties, even if in part a marketing ploy. But what bowled me over equally was the improved quality of so many wines, and not just reds and tawny ports, but whites, rosés and fizz.

It’s a shame, but hardly a mystery, that Portuguese wine isn’t better known and appreciated in the UK. The arthritic structure of the wine industry with its reliance on a legion of tiny growers and dearth of well-known brands or grape varieties combine with an inferiority complex next to a giant Iberian neighbour undergoing a current resurgence of its own. But with wines of the quality I saw coming through, there’s every reason why the Portuguese shouldn’t shed their underdog status and make their treasure trove of old vines and native grapes, roughly 300 of which are in common use, work for rather than against them.

Touriga nacional, the backbone of Port, has now become everyone’s darling because of its potential for great red table wine. From the Douro, the 2011 Quinta Do Vallado Touriga Nacional, £22.64 - £27.11, Exel Wines, Spirited Wines, shows why with its violety aromas and rich, ripe black fruit complemented by a savoury spiciness. Dominating a blend such as the 2011 Quinta do Vale Meão, around £19, Highbury Vintners, Philglas & Swiggot, it can display a superbly aromatic autumnal berries richness and power. Or it can join hands with other native varieties, and syrah, in the 2009 Cedro do Noval, Vinho Regional Duriensis, £14.95 - £16.99, Uncorked, H2Vin, Soho Wine Supply, a blend satisfyingly rich in dark berry fruit, stylishly complemented by pepper spice and damsony freshness.

Thanks to the maritime influence of the Atlantic, not to mention improvements in vineyard and cellar, Portugal’s white wines are at last showing the promise that many have long believed was always there. We are seeing the emergence of an astonishing array of appetising whites, from the country’s north and effervescent citrusy Vinho Verde such as the 2013 Quinta da Lixa Vinho Verde, £8.99, Avery’s, Tesco Wine by the Case, through to Beiras Altantico and Filip Pato’s moreishly stonefruit-rich 2013 Filipa Pato FP Branco, £11.75, Oddbins, on to Lisbon and the mouthwateringly lemony 2012 Fossil, £6.25, Asda, all the way down to the southern Alentejo and the smoky, toasty and juicily peachy 2013 Esporao Reserva, Alentejo, £10.58, The Drink Shop.

Something for The Weekend

Night In

2013 de Bortoli South East Australia Chardonnay

De Bortoli is a master of the superior everyday wine such as this appetising chardonnay, whose fresh grapefruity aromas are supported by a slimline melon juiciness and pineapple fresh, cleancut nutty finish. £9.99, buy 2 = £7.49, Majestic.

Dinner Party

2011 Taste the Difference Priorat, £11, Sainsbury’s

Just the ticket for any remaining summer barbecue weather, a blend of carignan, grenache and syrah that makes for sweet blackberry-scented aromas and plummy, cherry fruit with a layer of oak spice and damsony fresh bite. £11, Sainsbury's.

Splash Out

2012 Pieropan Soave Classico La Rocca

Taking soave into another dimension, the floral, honeyed aromas and seamlessly balanced, concentrated peach and apple fruitiness is enlivened by mouthwatering freshness and nutty dryness. £22.99- £26.50. The Wine Reserve, Highbury Vintners, Lea and Sandeman, Philglas & Swiggot .

There's a tawny in my Tawny