Chouriço de Carne de Vinhais

Chouriça de Carne de Vinhais and Linguiça de Vinhais are smoked pork sausages produced within a defined area of Trás-os-Montes, Portugal. The specification requires meat and fat from Bisara-breed pigs or their crossbreeds, seasoned with salt, water, wine, bay leaf, garlic and paprika, stuffed into small-intestine casings, and smoked over dry oak and/or chestnut wood.

About this designation

Registered as a PGI on 9 September 1997 under file number PGI-PT-0037 (eAmbrosia identifier EUGI00000013438), the designation covers two protected names: Chouriça de Carne de Vinhais and Linguiça de Vinhais. The geographical area of processing is restricted to the municipalities of Alfândega da Fé, Bragança, Carrazeda de Ansiães, Macedo de Cavaleiros, Mirandela, Torre de Moncorvo, Vila Flor and Vinhais. The specification requires that the sausage be made from meat and fat of swine of the Bisara breed or crossbreeds thereof. Production follows a defined sequence: the loin, tenderloin, neck, belly and belly flanks are cut into cubes approximately 3 cm in size; the meat is seasoned in two phases with salt, water, wine, bay leaf, garlic and paprika; the small-intestine casings are stuffed, pierced to release air, compressed into divisions, tied with two knots at each end using the same piece of cotton string so that the sausage takes on a horseshoe-like shape. Smoking is carried out through the gradual effect of mild heat from a low fire burning dry oak and/or chestnut wood. Smoking and curing combined must last at least 35 days. The pigs are finished on chestnuts produced under the natural conditions of the region. Each unit must bear a duly numbered certification mark, the model for which is defined in the Rules on Controls and Certification. The inspection body named in the specification is the Associação Interprofissional para os Produtos Agro Alimentares de Trás-os-Montes, based in Mirandela. The applicant group was the Associação Nacional de Suínos da Raça Bisara.

Source: The register document this entry was written from · retrieved August 28, 2026

Distinctive facts

• Registered as a PGI on 9 September 1997 under file number PGI-PT-0037; eAmbrosia identifier EUGI00000013438.
• Smoking and curing combined must last at least 35 days, according to the specification.
• The sausage takes a horseshoe-like shape, formed by tying both ends with the same piece of cotton string.
• Each unit must carry a duly numbered certification mark whose model is defined in the Rules on Controls and Certification.

Tasting notes

Trás-os-Montes coarse-ground pork sausage with paprika (colorau) and garlic, traditional smoked. Deep red color, firm texture, balanced spicy-savory pork flavor with characteristic smoke notes.

HoReCa use

Trás-os-Montes charcutaria board; used in cozido à portuguesa and in feijoada à transmontana.

Packaging

• vacuum-pack-200-400g
• whole-link-vacuum-300g
• deli-sliced-vacuum-100g