Alheira de Vinhais

Alheira de Vinhais is a smoked, horseshoe-shaped sausage produced in the Bragança district of Trás-os-Montes, made from the meat of Bisaro-breed pigs or qualifying crossbreeds, combined with poultry stock, regional wheat bread, and Trás-os-Montes olive oil, seasoned with salt, garlic, and paprika, and slowly smoked over oak or chestnut firewood.

About this designation

Registered as a PGI under file number PGI-PT-0460, with EU protection granted on 20 April 2005, Alheira de Vinhais falls under Class 1.2 (meat products: cooked, salted, smoked) and is identified in the eAmbrosia register under EUGI00000013693. The specification requires that the pigs used be of the Bisaro breed or crossbreeds that are at least 50% Bisaro (F1 animals produced by crossing pure-bred Bisaro pigs registered in the herdbook with pigs of other breeds). The area in which pigs are born, reared, fattened, slaughtered, and cut up spans named municipalities in both the Bragança and Vila Real districts; processing, however, is confined exclusively to the municipalities of Alfândega da Fé, Bragança, Carrazeda de Anciães, Freixo de Espada à Cinta, Macedo de Cavaleiros, Miranda do Douro, Mirandela, Mogadouro, Torre de Moncorvo, Vila Flor, Vimioso, and Vinhais in the Bragança district. The sausage weighs between 170 and 200 g, measures approximately 30 cm in length with a cylindrical section of approximately 2 cm in diameter, and is yellow-brown in colour. Smoking is carried out slowly using regional firewood, specifically oak or chestnut, and curing or stabilisation must last more than 8 days. The product is always placed on the market as a whole, pre-packed sausage and may not be cut or sliced. Each unit carries a numbered certification mark ensuring full traceability to the farm of origin. The inspection body is Tradição e Qualidade — Associação Interprofissional para Produtos Agro-Alimentares de Trás-os-Montes, recognised as complying with Standard 45011:2001. Labelling must include the wording 'Alheira de Vinhais — Indicação Geográfica Protegida', the Community logo, the Vinhais products logo, and the numbered certification mark.

Source: The register document this entry was written from · retrieved August 26, 2026

Distinctive facts

• Registered as a PGI on 20 April 2005 under file number PGI-PT-0460 (eAmbrosia identifier EUGI00000013693).
• Crossbreeds are permitted only if they are at least 50% Bisaro (F1 animals), with the pure-bred parent registered in the Bisaro herdbook.
• Curing or stabilisation must last more than 8 days, and smoking must use regional firewood — oak or chestnut only.
• Each unit bears a numbered certification mark; the product may not be cut or sliced and must be pre-packed within the processing geographical area.

Tasting notes

Trás-os-Montes alheira variant from Vinhais. Similar profile.

HoReCa use

Same applications.

Packaging

• Same