 VR is similar to the French "vin de pays" and DOC to the French AOC.In the southern half of Portugal, the Alentejo region covers about a third of the country and is sparsely populated.In 2005, South Oregon University scientist Gregory V. Jones identified Alentejo ("southern Portugal" in his words) as the world's most challenged wine region (out of 27 world wine regions) from a climate change perspective.