Tag Archive | "Portugal Links"
The Douro, dynamic, diverse, red, white & pink!
Ask anyone why the Douro Valley is famous and they’ll say Port – most likely vintage port, which accounts for a measly 1-2% of all Port wine. At London Wine Fair I was delighted to be asked to talk about the Douro by the Instituto do Vinho do Porto. It’s one of my favourite wine [...]
Continue reading...Best of Vinho Verde 2010 Awards
Posted Thursday 3rd June 2010
You may have noticed that I’m a big Vinho Verde fan so I was sorry to turn down judging at this year’s annual awards hosted by the local Comissão de Viticulture da Região dos Vinhos Verdes on account of other commitments. Judging is always a great opportunity to discover some names you didn’t know and, [...]
Continue reading...Symington Family Estates: first taste 2008 ports & wines
Posted Wednesday 2nd June 2010
Symington Family Estates are easily the Douro’s largest landowners with no less than 25 quintas (estates) totalling 1,769 hectares, of which 940 are under vine. It reinforced what miniscule amounts of even Single Quinta Vintage Port (SQVP) are released when, several weeks ago, they announced that they’d decided to bottle 600 cases of 2008 Quinta [...]
Continue reading...Fladgate first taste: 2008 Single Quinta Vintage port cask samples
Posted Monday 17th May 2010
In my blog announcing the St George’s Day release of Fladgate’s 2008 SQVPs (see here), I’d mentioned that Guimeraens reckoned Quinta do Panascal 2008 is among the finest yet. Members of the trade will be able to form their own view when cask samples of Fladgate’s 2008 Single Quinta Vintage Ports (SQVPs) are shown this [...]
Continue reading...Vinho Verde, variety and variety
Posted Sunday 2nd May 2010
Most Vinho Verde is a blend of several varieties, but if there’s a stand out grape, it’s got to be Alvarinho (known over the border in Galicia, Spain, as Albarino). The variety is spreading its wings outside Vinho Verde and fast assuming the mantle of Portugal’s flagship white grape variety. Take Poeira Pó de Poeira [...]
Continue reading...The International Wine Challenge – my top flight(s)
Posted Monday 26th April 2010
Today, I’ll start a week’s judging at The Decanter World Wine Awards – two days on Portugal, two days of Loire, then Trophy judging on Portugal and Port. So it’s a neat opportunity to reflect on my fortified and table wine highlights from the last two weeks when I’ve been judging at The International Wine [...]
Continue reading...Portugal Annual tasting 2010 – close encounters of a new kind
Posted Wednesday 21st April 2010
I’ve now posted highlights from the Annual Portugal Trade Tasting, plus samples I’ve recently tasted here, on my Portugal Regional Report page. The focus is on producers and products new to me like Luis Pato’s innovative Abafado “cyroextraction” sweeties pictured left – very Dr Who! You will also find details of the themes of my [...]
Continue reading...From white to pink elephant and other tales from the jungle – highlights from the Annual Portugal tasting
Posted Friday 16th April 2010
It pays to focus at annual generic trade tastings – so many wines, so little time – it’s a jungle out there! At Tuesday’s Annual Portugal tasting, I really had my work cut out for me because I was also presenting tastings on the hour every hour. My tactic? To make a beeline for wines [...]
Continue reading...Portugal Annual tasting 12 & 13th April – tips for the trade & consumers
Posted Monday 12th April 2010
Today I’m preparing for tomorrow’s Annual Portugal Trade Tasting at Lords cricket ground, where I’ll be presenting “short-burst” tastings on the hour from 12 noon to highlight key trends. Consumers get a head start between 6-8.30pm tonight and, if you haven’t booked tickets already (see here), you can pay on the door and take your [...]
Continue reading...For the Love of Port 2007 Vintage Port Forecast – the heads up
Posted Saturday 27th February 2010
In my September Douro Boys’ report here, I wrote about a unique “Time is on my side” tasting of 2007 ports organised by Dirk Niepoort. A tasting gauntlet, it challenged us to taste 60 hours’ worth of 2007 vintage port in 2 hours. To explain, we tasted 15 different ports from the recently released 2007 [...]
Continue reading...Won-Dão-ful – Quinta da Falorca, Dão reds
Posted Wednesday 24th February 2010
Just posted a regional report (here) with notes from a great tasting, trotting through a range of Quinta da Falorca Dão reds, including some mini-verticals. I’ve not visited them, but their wines were a stand out at a generic Dão tasting I attended last year in July on my 50 Great Portuguese Wines’ quest (reported [...]
Continue reading...Portuguese Annual Wine Awards 2010
Posted Friday 12th February 2010
Yesterday’s 50 Great Portugese Wines tasting went swimmingly – great to see so many producers supporting the event and to taste the wines, all together for the first time. I’ll let the previous incumbent, Jamie Goode, bang the drum for it – some great pics on his blog too here. Last night a little sadly, [...]
Continue reading...Drum roll…my 50 Great Portuguese Wines
Posted Thursday 11th February 2010
Now that it’s official, I can reveal the identity of my 50 Great Portuguese Wines below! Intrigued? Click here and, on my Portugal Regional Report page, you’ll find introductory text about my 50 Great quest under the 50 Great Portuguese Wines 2010 link, together with details about what informed my choices and tasting notes for [...]
Continue reading...Sampling Portugal head to toe, including a couple from Colares, Alvaro Castro, Anselmo Mendes, Soalheiro and some new names…
Posted Sunday 7th February 2010
I’ve been maintaining a steady drip feed of reports about Portugal – the fruit of my tasting labours this last year in pursuit of my quest to select 50 Great Portuguese Wines. Reports have been based on producer visits, wine shows, a tasting at Lisbon’s Sala Ogival pictured (which is open to the public) and, [...]
Continue reading...Majestic Spring deals – 25% off South Africa, 20% off Portugal
Posted Saturday 30th January 2010
Majestic’s Spring wine list just landed through my letter box. Between 2 February and 26 April they’re offering 25% off their entire South Africa range and 20% off Portugal. In both cases, the deal applies when you buy any 2 bottles of South African or Portuguese wines (not fortifieds) as part of a minimum purchase [...]
Continue reading...Portugal – a pre-50 Great last fling!
Posted Monday 18th January 2010
In December, I completed the last leg of my quest to identify 50 Great Portuguese Wines, visiting Brito e Cunha, Passadouro, Wine & Soul, Quinta do Noval, Quinta de Romaneira, Quinta do Portal and Quinta das Murcas in the Douro and Herdade de Esporão in Alentejo. You’ll find highlights in my regional report – click [...]
Continue reading...Portuguese wines – some (The) Capital food and wine matching!
Posted Tuesday 24th November 2009
Presented a superb tasting at The Capital in Knightsbridge yesterday for Waitrose Food Illustrated readers. Lots of positive comments about the wines, surprise about how good even modestly priced Portguese whites now are (take a bow Quinta de Azevedo Vinho Verde 2008 & Jose Maria da Fonseca Periquita White 2007) and some capital, of course, [...]
Continue reading...Worship at the altar of Alentejo?
Posted Tuesday 10th November 2009
Portugal’s UK market share still hovers around a measly 1%, though if you take a look at retailers’ lists, you can be sure that wines from the Alentejo region, which I’ve just visited, account for a fair percentage of them. Why? A clue lies in one of its nicknames, “the Australia of Portugal.” The building [...]
Continue reading...Sunshine in southern Portugal
Posted Friday 30th October 2009
My return flight to London is delayed but here I am, at Lisbon airport, posting the very good news. It’s been sunny from start to finish, always raises the spirits, but really it’s been a great trip for information gathering for my 50 Great Portuguese tastings next year and for Hugh Johnson Pocket Wine, to [...]
Continue reading...The Wine Show – heads up on a steal…
Posted Friday 23rd October 2009
I’ve been presenting Portuguese wines at The Wine Show in Islington today and head off to Alentejo in southern Portugal tomorrow for Vinipax and journo visits. In London, the show goes on over the weekend and I cannot recommend highly enough buying some Esporao Reserve Branco 2008 on a special show 3 for 2 deal [...]
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Posted Friday 4th June 2010
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