The lower valley of the Douro is the home of the famous vinho verde (literally "green wine" but meaning young wine), the production of which has its heartland further north, in the Minho region. The river, which has been widened as a result of a series of dams, flows between the slopes of its surrounding hills. On the right bank the landscape is more wooded than on the left, which is cultivated and is dotted with small white villages amid its vineyards, olive groves and fields of corn. However, urbanisation is slowly encroaching here.