Design in Portugal. Fazenda Nova - a smash hit Hotel in the eastern Algarve

For years they dreamed of selling up and moving to a place they considered a glorious secret: the eastern Algarve. Hallie and Tim Robinson, from London, viewed it as one of the world's hidden gems – a place of salt pans and sand dunes, vast white beaches, wildlife-filled nature reserves and colourful ferries seemingly taking you back in time to tiny, old-fashioned holiday islands.

Over late-night glasses of wine, they plotted and planned how they would pack up their treasures (the three children – Felix, Milo and Riley) and leave, never to return. But busy jobs, children's schooling and the stress of life got in the way. Hallie worked in fashion PR, while Tim ran a logistics business.
That was until one day early in 2008 when Tim, then 43, suffered a mild heart attack that stopped the family in its tracks. Within six months, the jobs were gone, friends had waved them off and they were in the Algarve, roughing it in the sunshine.

Three years later, they speak Portuguese fluently, their children are in local schools and they have a secluded, 10-bedroom country-house hotel called Fazenda Nova.
Fazenda Nova is 25 minutes by car from Faro airport, and a short drive from Tavira, a town that many Portuguese consider their country's prettiest, dating from the bronze age.

With a magpie eye for flea market knick-knacks and idiosyncratic antique furniture from around the world, the couple have imbued a highly polished modernist interior with their story. Old letterpresses are filled with quirky keyrings and brightly coloured tins wink from the shelves. There are toy robots and glass bottles and old shoes stays, all adding character to the polished concrete and reclaimed wood.
Some of their chairs and consoles were Portuguese pieces exported to Brazil during colonisation, which the couple have shipped back
Upstairs in the library are old copies of The Face, Arena and Smash Hits – British cult magazines founded in the 1980s by Nick Logan – Hallie's dad and business partner. Hallie first came to the Algarve as a child with her parents, and says she feels the place has been in her blood ever since.

The couple created Fazenda Nova by taking what they saw as the best of old and new: combining original features and traditional Algarve style with contemporary architecture. Family friend David Eyre – founder of London's Eagle gastropub and latterly of the Eyre Brothers restaurant in Shoreditch – has given guidance on the menu, and Kate Lewis, a former chef at the Eagle, works there alongside Ricardo Aragao, who brings years of knowledge of Portuguese cuisine.
The seasonal produce that is served in their restaurant, "A Cozinha", is supplemented by the harvest from their 10 hectares of olive groves, carob, fig and pomegranate orchards and a herb garden.
A 200-year-old bread oven has been restored to working order and is now producing loaves under the watchful eye of local women who know how it should be done.

Nine of the rooms have private gardens or terraces. There's a penthouse suite and two apartments with small kitchens. The infinity pool has views of the surrounding countryside and pod-style hammocks swing under the shade of olive trees.
Tim and Hallie have several favourite places just a short drive away, which they pointed out to me on a map: pretty 18th-century cobblestoned towns, bustling fishing ports and a system of barrier islands – the Ria Formosa – that stretches for 60 miles.
Tim directed me to what he considers his secret haven: the tiny island of Armona. As I stepped off the ferry, I could see the appeal. It is a paradise for those seeking peace, with just a few bars and shops, one-storey bungalows and chalets. There are similar islands and beaches all along this stretch, some accessible by ferry or water taxi. There's also a toytown-style train to the beautiful Praia do Barril beach.

Hallie led me to the place at the top of her list: a flea market, held on the first Sunday of every month beside the beach in the town of Fuseta. It's one of the best I've visited. At one stall, she did the haggling for me and for €30 I walked away with a stunning art deco-style crystal chandelier. And of course, she couldn't help buying a few things for herself. Then, turning the corner, we bumped into Hallie's father, bearing a series of vibrant women's magazines from the 1950s. They too were destined for Fazenda Nova.

Célia Pedroso, a Portuguese food writer and friend, took me to the fish and vegetable market in the port town of Olhão where we ogled sardines caught less than an hour previously and stalls of colourful vegetables. We picked the best piri piri peppers, bunches of dried oregano, locally produced honeys and jams, almonds and tinned sardines – all to be stuffed in my suitcase.

On Armona, Célia showed me a trick she learned as a child: digging in the sand with your heels at low tide and collecting dozens of cadelinhas, tiny sweet clams that she later cooked with garlic, coriander and olive oil.
That night, beneath a clear sky, with no light pollution to spoil our view of the endless stars, we sipped at glasses of crisp, slightly gassy vinho verde, and I began plotting my own escape to this secret coast.

by guardian.co.uk; fazendanova.eu  

Alentejo. Portugal. Discover a new world of tastes..

The Alentejo, a true paradise between beaches and plains, offers us an open landscape in which the cork and oak trees play a decisive part in conveying the tranquility, the warmth and the extension of one the Portuguese regions best known for its imaginative gastronomy.
In the north, we can discover Portalegre and the Serra de São Mamede, whose climate, colder and moister that in the rest ofAlentejo, provides great quality wines.
The cattle rasing and the products we can get from it, like cheese, are also worthy of a delicate tasting.
Next we have Borba, Estremoz, the Redondo, in plain Serra d’Ossa and then Évora. Wine production is tradition in any one of these cities. You can visit the many wine makers and discover this region’s enourmous amount of great quality restaurants.

On the south, in Baixo Alentejo, you can take a trip to Moura and visit the Olive Oil Museum. It is also here that great quality honey is produced.
In the Alentejo, you can also feel the scents of the fields and the rich flavors of aromatic herbs. From oregano to rosemary, the spices fill the cooking with perfume, granting them that special alentejo’s touch. The coriander gives name to Cação de Coentrada (a fish dish made with a lot of coriander), a worthy of mention typical dish that can be eaten as soup ou accompanied by boiled potatos and slices of toasted bread.

The porco alentejano (alentejo’s pig) lives the fields of cork and oak trees with the perfect conditions for a healthy growing and an oak nut-based feeding. The ham from the porco alentejano is a good example of this product’s quality, with its exquisite flavor and aroma.



The Migas à Alentejana with pork are one of the most known dishes of this region’s gastronomy. The bread is a key ingredient of this gastronomy, either by itself or used in an assortment of recipes.
The monasterial sweet making of Alentejo, predominant in eggs and gila (a variety of pumpkin jelly), is a symbol of the region. Also a part of the best tradional recipes of alentejo is the Encharcada do Convento de Santa Clara (Évora) - a regional dessert made with cinnamon and eggs. The Fidalgo and the Sericaia, either with or without rainhas Cláudia (a kind of plums) are fine representatives of the best monasterial sweet making.

To end the journey, you can take a peek to the shores of the Alqueva, the biggest artificial dam in Europa, where all these golden tones blend themselves with the blue colours of the Guadiana river.

by taste-portugal.com

Portuguese Red Wines Come of Age, Steal Spain’s Thunder

Back in the 1990s Spain seemed to be Europe’s most forward looking wine producer. But as overproduction and high alcohol wines increasingly dominate Spanish viniculture, it now appears Portugal can steal some of its thunder. 
Such an achievement would simply not have been possible 10 years ago. Prior to 1986, when Portugal joined the EU, its wine industry was wracked by political directives and a lack of any dependable system to make sense of its wine regions.

After joining, EU subsidies and investments poured into Portugal for the regeneration of old and the building of new wineries, attracting a young generation of winemakers, including an impressive number of women, who now account for 60 percent of the students at the oenology school in Vila Real.
Today there are 31 DOC and DOP appellations and 14 approved wine regions in Portugal, including the beautiful Douro River Valley, famous for its fortified Port wines.
Indeed, Port’s historic renown has blinded many to the charms of Portugal’s modern red wines, 30 of which, all from the Douro, I got to taste at a recent Wine Media Guild luncheon in New Yourk.

Modestly Priced

My overall impression was that many were so very good and so modestly priced, with some of my favorites retailing at only $10 - $16. In fact, none cost more than $40.
My second surprise was that very few topped 14 percent in alcohol, with most at a reasonable 13.5 or below, indicating that, at least so far, Portuguese winemakers have resisted going for that bold but imbalanced style that plagues international wine markets and destroys any subtleties of individual terroir.
One of my colleagues at the luncheon said he thought too many of the wines tasted very much the same, but I reminded him that all were from the same Douro region and therefore shared identifiable characteristics.

Some of the newer blends -- and Portugal offers a wide palate of grapes to choose among -- include the robust touriga nacional; the late-ripening baga, sometimes used as a base for sparkling wines; the widely planted, zesty castelao; the aromatic touriga franca; the fruity, herbal trincadeira; and the increasingly impressive tinta, in Spain called tempranillo.

Fuzzy Reservas

These were young wines we tasted, and the laws about “reservas” are a bit fuzzy: a reserva must spend at least one year in oak and one in bottle -- rather liberal for a wine that is held back for more maturity -- and a garrafeira must spend three years aging, at least one in bottle, but the rules allow for a good deal of flexibility.

Most of the wines were recent vintages from 2009 and 2010 vintages, with the oldest going back only to 2007. I enjoyed the younger, fresher wines, including a lovely, sweetly juicy and floral Vinho Oscar Quevedo Douro Oscar’s 2009 ($10) that makes for very easy drinking. Sales-wise, Quevado is cutting edge: the producer markets only through its social network.
At $13, the 2009 Quinta dos Murcas Assobio, is a terrific buy, with a remarkably assertive bouquet and fine texture felt from the tip of the tongue to back of the throat. “Assobio” means “whistle,” in homage to the winds in the Douro hills.

Persuasive Blend

The 2009 J. Portugal Ramos Colheita ($20) is a persuasive blend of two touriga varietals plus tinta roriz, with plenty of complexity.
If you want a sense of what a “typical” Portuguese wine tastes like, try the 2009 Quinta de Roriz Prazo de Roriz ($16), which is a little rough around the edges but would be perfect with Portuguese dishes like caldo verde soup, the salt cod dish called bacalhau, or just with a handful of the country’s wonderful roasted chestnuts.

My favorite wine, at just $21, was the PV Mutante 2007, whose age mellowed its tannins and acids, revealing layers of integrated flavors of fruit and woodsyness.

At $30, the curiously-named Twisted Tinto 2009, a blend of the two tourigas, roriz, amarela, and barroca, by Niepoort (one of the finest Port producers) had medium body, a rich, fat quality and plenty of dense fruit flavors, ideal with suckling pig or lamb.

Yet not one of these wines went above 13.5 percent alcohol, while providing real depth of flavour.

by blomberg.com

Tavira Island, Portugal. Museum on a beach.

Rust In Peace: Portugal’s Eerie Anchor Graveyard

Tavira Island (Ilha de Tavira) hugs southern Portugal's scenic Algarve shoreline, it's long and slender dimensions hugging the coast for 6.85 miles (11km). Park of the Ria Formosa nature reserve, Tavira Island boasts some of the Algarve's best beaches.

Take a few steps back from the beach – not too many, as the island is only 500 ft to 3,300 ft (150 m to 1 km) wide – and you’ll find a curious sight among the shifting sand dunes: a graveyard of anchors.
Interestingly, the upturned tips of the half-buried anchors strikingly resemble some of the standing sea stacks characteristic of the Algarve coast.
The Cemitério das Âncoras, as it’s known in Portuguese, is an odd and unexpected assemblage of several hundred iron anchors. Gnarled and rusted from years of use and even more years of disuse, the anchors are positioned on their sides with one hook looping into the air and the other driven into the island’s moist, welcoming soil.

Anchor Species

There is no exclusionary fence at the Anchor Graveyard, no sign or signal as to who made it and for what purpose. What little we know, we have learned from the remaining descendants of the people who, for many generations, exploited the formerly abundant bluefin tuna that once plied the wild waves just offshore.
The rough and unpredictable waters where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean called for a unique tuna-fishing technique invented long ago, perhaps by the ancient Phoenicians who first explored and colonized the area before the Romans built an Empire.

The anchors might look like those used to hold small ships steady but they weren’t used for that purpose. Instead, Portugal’s traditional tuna fishermen used them to hold their huge funnel nets (“armações de atum”) in place against both the force of the sea and the exertions of massive, trapped bluefin tuna.

by weburbanist.com

Lisbon. Portugal. Must see! Mercado de vinhos do Campo Pequeno

O Mercado de Vinhos do Campo Pequeno, em Lisboa, vai recriar o espírito dos antigos espaços de compre a venda portugueses. Ou seja, lugares onde se adquiria tudo diretamente aos produtores. No caso vertente, o mercado vai estar adaptado a uma temática: os vinhos provenientes de dezenas de produtores nacionais. 

A organização promete reunir, entre 1 e 4 de novembro, “os melhores vinhos, produzidos por pequenos e médios produtores de cada uma das regiões vinícolas de Portugal”. Um encontro que augura “muita qualidade e preço atrativo”.

O Mercado de Vinhos nasce com um duplo objetivo: promover micro e pequenas empresas ligadas ao sector vinícola e sensibilizar os consumidores para produtos portugueses inovadores e criativos.

As regiões presentes neste mercado são: Alentejo, Douro, Dão, Tejo, Bairrada, Terras do Sado, Lisboa, Beiras, Trás-os-Montes, Algarve, Açores, Vinhos Verdes, Madeira, Porto.

by enofiloprincipiante.blogspot

Lançado primeiro pacote turístico transfronteiriço da Península Ibérica

Porto, 26 out (Lusa) -- A Fundação Rei Afonso Henriques lançou hoje, no Porto, o primeiro pacote turístico transfronteiriço da Península Ibérica, que agrupa 11 destinos do Norte de Portugal e de Castela e Leão, todos eles classificados como Património Mundial da Humanidade.

Em declarações à agência Lusa, o presidente da fundação, Silva Peneda, explicou que a denominada "Rota do Património Mundial Douro/Duero" inclui, entre outros sítios classificados pela UNESCO, o centro histórico do Porto, a cidade de Guimarães, o Douro Vinhateiro, Foz Côa, Burgos, Ávila ou Salamanca.

A rota, afirmou Silva Peneda, "serve para animar a atividade económica de duas regiões das mais deprimidas da Península Ibérica. Fundamentalmente, o objetivo deste projeto é animação da atividade económica e a criação de emprego. É disto que estamos a falar".

Um portal de internet vai apoiar a promoção da nova rota, que pode ser vendida em pacote integral ou em frações, consoante as disponibilidades de tempo e dinheiro dos interessados.

Advertindo que um projeto deste tipo "requer tempo" para solidificar, o secretário-geral da fundação, Jose Luis González Prada, escusou-se a estimar o acréscimo de turistas que a nova rota poderá trazer aos 11 destinos que a integram.

Números divulgados pela própria fundação, indicam que a região do Norte atraiu, em 2009, cerca de 2,5 milhões de turistas, a maioria (59,3%) portugueses.

No caso de Castela e Leão, a região foi a preferida por 11,9% dos turistas espanhóis que optam pelo turismo interno, tendo recebido a visita de um milhão de estrangeiros.

Discover. Indulge yourself. You worth it. Great Portuguese wines, must try.

Capturing world of great Portuguese wines.. So different. Takes tame to discover, taste and choose the favourite ones.. Sun and beach time or chilly autumn, great celebration or romantic evening or a big dinner  - there are plenty of options in Douro Valley list. Indulge.   

Reds

2007 Quinta do Vallado Douro, $37
Quinta do Vallado produces generous Douro reds, albeit with plenty of perfume and dark, tannic grip. Vallado Douro is a blend of touriga nacional, touriga franca, tinta barroca, tinta roriz and sousão from mostly younger vines. There is trademark Douro ink and floral lift, with a plummy mid-palate and a long, pippy finish.

2007 Quinta do Crasto Reserva douro, $78 
Quinta do Crasto excels with tinta roriz where it forms the basis of its regular and reserve blends, as well as single-varietal bottlings in good years. This is a very big wine by Douro standards, lavishly oaked with lush fruit showing coffee, cinnamon, tar and licorice. There’s some trademark Douro minerality poking through and classy, grippy tannins. One for the cellar.  

2007 Quinta do Vale MeÃo Meandro douro, $49 
Meão’s wines combine textural precision, freshness and generosity from their upper Douro fruit, well reflected in the 2007 Meandro (the name comes from the meandering river that almost encircles the property). A combination of touriga nacional, tinto roriz and touriga franca, this is a medium-bodied wine packed with bright red berries and spicy black fruit. There are flavours of anise, violets and smoked meats.

2007 Quinta do Vale MeÃo Douro, $185
60 per cent touriga nacional, 20 per cent touriga franca, 15 per cent tinta roriz, 5 per cent tinta barroca. Based on these tastings, Meão’s Douro stands alongside Dirk Niepoort’s brace of wines as the benchmark for modern Douro reds. The wine shows a mix of briar, vanilla pod, Asian spices and minerality. The texture is detailed and layered, from low-bass to high-treble notes – tannins and acid in balance, with a satiny sheen.

2007 Niepoort Redoma tinto, $115
All the hallmarks of Niepoort’s fastidious approach to viticulture and winemaking are here. The wine is fine-boned and linear, the structure supporting wild, rustic, dark-berry flavours with mid-palate generosity and a lively, long finish. Savage and restrained at the same time.

Ports
Quinta do Vallado 10 Year Old Tawny port, $75
A fresh and spirity tawny. Light brown colour with notes of spearmint, licorice and cola. Good levels of acidity balance the praline-like sweetness. There is still plenty of primary fruit here. The finish is fresh with a lingering nuttiness.

2007 Niepoort Vintage Port, A$200
A deep purple colour, as is typical of Vintage Ports in their infancy. Despite its youth, it shows freshness and a floral lift with time in the glass. There are notes of menthol, wild herbs, flowers, with a touch of spirit and raisin. The tannin and acid balance is excellent. Great finesse.

2007 Quinta do Vale Meão Vintage Port, $130 
Less restrained than the Niepoort, with velvety exuberance and generosity. There is plenty of acid and freshness to give direction to the burst of fresh fruit. Plummy and layered, with touches of chocolate, violets, anise, bergamot and cloves. Ripe tannins and a long, silky finish. Highly recommended.

by gourmettraveller.com

Rota do Património Mundial Douro/Duero. Vamos a isso!

by jornaldamadeira.pt

A Fundação Rei Afonso Henriques (FRAH) vai lançar, no dia 14 de setembro, no Porto, um portal na internet para divulgar o primeiro roteiro turístico ibérico "Rota do Património Mundial Douro/Duero", anunciou hoje fonte da instituição.
Segundo José Luís Prada, secretário-geral da fundação, o portal pretende promover os dez sítios que são Património da Humanidade classificados pela UNESCO existentes na região norte de Portugal e na província espanhola de Castilla y León.

Património da Humanidade classificados pela UNESCO existentes na região norte de Portugal e na província espanhola de Castilla y León.

"Pretende-se que esta rota seja o grande destino ibérico", afirmou hoje o responsável à agência Lusa, em Salamanca, à margem da apresentação de um evento todo o terreno que o Clube Escape Livre, da Guarda, vai organizar em outubro, com o objetivo de divulgar o Património da Humanidade do Vale Internacional do Douro.
José Luís Prada referiu que o portal servirá para promover e "dar a conhecer a existência dos lugares [Património da Humanidade] e criar um produto verdadeiramente turístico que permita a sua comercialização, com o objetivo de atrair turistas de todo o mundo, que podem percorrer os dez lugares reconhecidos pela UNESCO".Indicou que o projeto "permitirá que todos os recursos turísticos possam ser conhecidos" e ajudará os potenciais turistas a obter "toda a informação" relativa aos locais, incluindo "onde comer e pernoitar".Disse que a ação pretende ser "um primeiro nível para facilitar toda a informação" aos visitantes, em colaboração com operadores privados.

O projeto da "Rota do Património Mundial Douro/Duero", que foi apresentado aos chefes do Governo português e espanhol na XXV Cimeira Luso-Espanhola, realizada no Porto, é da responsabilidade da FRAH e tem o cofinanciamento comunitário do Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2).A rota integra os centros históricos do Porto e de Guimarães, o Alto Douro Vinhateiro e sítios de arte rupestre do Vale do Côa (Portugal), os centros históricos de Ávila, Salamanca e Segóvia, a catedral de Burgos, o sítio de arte rupestre de Atapuerca, Las Medelas e Siega Verde (Espanha).
O evento organizado pelo Escape Livre, denominado Mercedes-Benz 4MATIC Experience, hoje apresentado no Museo de História de la Automoción de Salamanca, tem o Apoio da FRAH por ser "uma atividade que ajuda os objetivos do projeto de valorização do Património da Humanidade", justificou José Luís Prada.O passeio, a realizar entre 19 e 21 de outubro, terá um percurso que inclui Trancoso e Salamanca, passando pelas figuras rupestres de Vila Nova de Foz Côa e de Siega Verde, segundo Luís Celínio, da organização.

History. Art. Music. Architecture. Alfama! Portugal.

Medieval Maze, Views, Fado and  Soul..

by lisbonlux.com

This quaint medieval district (once the Moorish and Jewish quarter before it became a fishing community) is like a small village. It stands as a time capsule to the years before Lisbon was destroyed by the 1755 earthquake, as it remained standing thanks to its rock-solid foundations.

Put away your map and wander aimlessly through its "becos" (alleys) and "largos" (small squares), allowing your senses to be the guides.

You'll see laundry out to dry from balconies and magnificent views of the river, smell fish being grilled in a corner, hear the sounds of Fado coming out of a restaurant, taste some authentic traditional meals, and touch some dazzling tilework. Set in a visually stunning hill, this is Lisbon at its most picturesque and the very soul of the city.

Life here continues much as it has for centuries, but walk down towards the river and you're once again in modern times: old warehouses have been renovated and turned into some of the city's coolest hotspots, from DeliDelux for brunch to Bica do Sapato for dinner, and Lux for drinks and dancing until sunrise!

Fascinating architectural solutions. Portugal.

Exterior Stairs on a Mountain Slope Home

by weburbanist.com

Building a home onto a steep mountainside can be a challenging proposition, but architect Alvaro Leite Siza came up with a clever solution for this modern residence in Penafiel, Portugal. The Tolo House is a series of concrete volumes that cascade down the cliff – with a set of stairs running from one rooftop level to the next.

Amazing rural retreats in Portugal

by Guardian the Observer


Portugal quintas - country estates with bags of character. Some are hidden in the hills, some on the coast, some cheap, others very chic, but glorious scenery and a slower pace of life come as standard.

Rustic chic

Quinta das Sequoias Estremadura

Hidden in a deep forest, this long, two-storey white quinta, dating from 1870, is full of delights and dream-like views of palaces and castles. Corridors and walls are adorned with paintings and sculptures from some of Portugal's foremost artists, alongside fascinating older pieces from all over the world. Bedrooms are individual, with carved beds and polished mahogany furniture, with rugs on tiled floors. In front of the house the garden descends on lawned terraces, with pergolas and lush foliage, to a burbling stream below and a swimming pool with views for miles.
· Estrada de Monserrate, Estremadura

Quinta de Alcaidaria-Mór Ribatejo

The wisteria-clad manor has been in the family for 300 years and is every inch the grand country house: stately cedar-lined drive, box-hedged gardens, 14th-century chapel. The main house is a cool, gracious building - light streams into lofty, elegant rooms with marble floors, arches and delicate plasterwork. An attractive self-catering house is just up the hill, while the B&B rooms are in the main building - and very special they are, too. Expect antique dressers, beds, comfortable chairs, perhaps a grand bathtub with clawed feet. Add to this great views, a peaceful pool and the natural kindness of your English-speaking host and you begin to get the measure of this charming place.
· Ourem, Ribatejo

Quinta Dimalago Algarve

Silves is the oldest city in the Algarve and Quinta Dimalago has a fantastic view of its Moorish castle, gorgeous when floodlit at night. The big, beautiful, tropical garden with its natural pool and waterfalls is on a migrating path for birds and is a wildlife haven. Choose between the renovated 200-year cottage - stunning with its Sri Lankan doors, Dutch antiques and Moroccan suite - and the newly built quinta, whose modest shell hides a strikingly decorated and superbly well-furnished and equipped interior.
Generous rooms have natural ventilation, while solar panels and rainwater harvesting reflect the green consciences of the relaxed and delightful Dutch owners. They live opposite and welcome you on arrival with a glass of sparkling wine. Heaven.
· Silves, Algarve

Quinta da Fonte Bispo Algarve

Enjoy the benign climate and closeness to the sea in the gentle hills of the Algarve hinterland. This old farmstead is a long, low, white building with pretty chimney stacks and broad bands of blue around doors and windows. Parts of the farm are 200 years old but it has been completely renovated. The six suites in the converted outbuildings, fronting a cobbled central patio, were designed with families in mind: open-plan sitting rooms have beds which double up as sofas and open fires for cosy winter days. The restaurant serves Portuguese food (delicious cheeses and chorizo), and there is a sauna, table-tennis, pool and mini-gym.
· Fonte do Bispo, Tavira, Algarve

Wines of Portugal. Congratulations! Marvellous.

Wines of Portugal | A world of difference | News article | Portuguese company is "Winery of the year"

Wines of Portugal | A world of difference | News article | Portuguese company is "Winery of the year"

Best buy. Wines of Portugal. A world of difference.

Wines of Portugal | A world of difference | News article | Portugal is the best buy of 2012

Gastronomia Portuguesa.

Vinho e gastronomia de mãos dadas

 by Revista EPICUR

Os nomes da quinta e do restaurante encontram-se na adega  na cozinha, dão-se as mãos à esa, para momentos de fruição  promessa de prazeres futuros. A concepção dos pratos de cada enu e  sua conjugação hão-de ser pistas para casamentos uturos, lá em casa (por que não?), entre uma asca disto ou aquilo e uma flute daquela colheita, um tinto de boa casta.

Que a concepção da casa obedeceu à intenção de divulgar a culinária regional, privilegiando o leitão, adivinha-se desde logo pela integração, de raiz, na própria memória descritiva do projecto, de um forno destinado à assadura do réquinho. E as referências nas redes sociais ainda atribuem ao local as virtudes todas desse brinco – o forno contempla a utilização das vides retiradas na limpeza das vinhas.

A verdade é que o leitão à Bairrada já não figura na ementa. Hoje, o cardápio está organizado por menus, desde logo o que responde por Grande Encontro. Aí se contempla um camarão fumado, salva e tártaro de cenoura e courgette, a que se liga, na proposta, o espumante Cabriz Dão

Touriga Nacional rosé Bruto 2006. Já para a truta assada com figo e damascos, puré de grão-de-bico e salsa frisada é sugerido o Encontro 1 Bairrada branco 201.

Nas carnes, o lombinho de borrego grelhado, esparregado de grelos e macaxeira frita, vem com um Grande Encontro Bairrada tinto 2008. Por fim, aos doces, a Quinta das Tecedeira comparece num Porto Vintage 2007, a enfrentar um enrolado de ovos- -moles, seu gelado e salada de fruta fresca. Já o Menu Preto Branco arranca com atum marinado com funcho, vinagrete de toranja e canónigos, assessorado por espumante Cabriz Dão Encruzado Bruto 2007; chamuça de enchidos serranos, salada de ananás dos Açores, creme de coco e azeite de coentros, em que os copos acolhem um Quinta de Lourosa Regional Minho Alvarinho – Arinto 2011; segue-se terrina de porco bísaro, chips de batata-doce e rúcula, mais o Preto Branco Bairrada Reserva tinto 2009; pudim de cenoura, chocolate negro e caruma de camelo, embalado pela Quinta das Tecedeiras Porto LBV 2009, completam o quadro.

Vamos ao Menu Bical, casta acarinhada nos brancos bairradinos: tempura de legumes, creme de queijo da Serra da Estrela e zimbro, mais espumante Quinta do Encontro Bairrada Bruto 2008; centro de bacalhau frito, arroz de tomate assado e hortelã da ribeira, com um QdoE Bairrada Bical 2011; creme queimado de espumante Quinta do Encontro, acolitado de Conde de Sabugal Douro Moscatel 2009. E lá vão 24 euros. Agora o Menu Encontro, nos seus 17 euros. Abre com um creme de abóbora, espuma de camarão e cebolinho, com espumante QdoE bruto, seguido de um caldo de cogumelos, osso-buco estufado e estaladiças de legumes, regado a QdoE Bairrada tinto 2009. À sobremesa comparece o soufflé de lima, gelado de nata e hortelã, mais o Conde de Sabugal Douro Moscatel 2009.

As perspectivas de visita e convívio familiares obrigam a menus de criança, sob a forma de bife do lombo com creme de manteiga ou massa com cogumelos, queijo e bacon. Bastam 12,5 euros para esta experiência abstémia. O visitante não fica, no entanto, obrigado, a consumir um menu. Os pratos já referidos estão disponíveis, cada um por si. E os vinhos, claro, à escolha. Pela prova, é uma grande experiência. O chefe de cozinha está à altura, sem arrebiques de descrição. Cada preparação culinária, numa refeição destas, há-de servir o vinho que a convoca. Gostámos e aplaudimos.

History and heritage. Portugal. Lamego.

Sé Catedral de Lamego

by dourovalley.eu

This unique church built in the twelfth century, presenting a Manueline front and body designed by Nicolau Nasoni. 
This temple has undergone many changes, particularly in the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. 

Inside, three ships will reveal the side chapels with carvings of the eighteenth century, the transept with central lantern, the altarpieces, paintings and stalls. To church, divided into three naves and cruise, attached to the chapter house, cloister and other dependencies. On the opposite side, there are many dependencies and Romanesque bell tower.

Portuguese villages... Unique discovery.

by aldeiasdeportugal.pt

LET DISCOVER CASTRO LABOREIRO VILLAGE

Castro Laboreiro, in the parish with the same name and in the borough of Melgaço, lies in Peneda-Gerês National Park, which makes it a touristic attraction right away but, besides that, it hás a unique kind of ancient village buildings and it´s the original place of the world famous canine breed, the Castro Laboreiro dog.

The region

Furthermore, the village has a rich millenary historical, archaeological and architectural heritage, namely megalithic monuments, the Castle of Castro Laboreiro - acknowledged as a national monument - medieval bridges and churches, community ovens, mills, agriculture and grazing activities, and the unique brandas, inverneiras and fixed places, which are testimonies of the transhumance that happens here as well. 

The region´s forests are dominated by oak-trees. We can also find the arbutus-tree, the holly, the laurel cherry-tree, the pine-tree and the white birch. Bushes are more common in the higher areas where mainly brooms, furzes and heathers grow. The most representative animal species are the wild boar, the deer, the badger and the otter.
At the village, visitors may find lodging in recovered village houses and mills.

The gastronomic offer is varied, with typical dishes that include kid, bacon steaks, smoked sausages, rye bread and corn bread. There´s also two typical desserts: bucho doce (usually pork stomach cooked with lard, sugar, eggs, bread and cinnamon) and sopa seca de pão duro (Minho's traditional recipe resembles Cozido à Portuguesa, usually made with more or less the same ingredients: beef, pork, chicken, smoked sausages, cabbages, carrots, and bread). 

After that, for an easier digestion and for a deeper contact with the natural environment, we suggest a walk or a ride in a four-wheel drive vehicle through Rodeiro, Alto da Portela de Pau, Pedra Mourisca, Alto dos Cepos Alvos, Portos, Varziela and, again, Castro Laboreiro.

Portugal inspires!

LEONOR | Bookcase

Portugal is a wonderful destination for birdwatching!

by portugaldreamcost.com

Portugal has been a wonderful destination for birdwatching and one of the country’s best birdwatching areas is Sado estuary in Setubal. If you are a birdwatching fan and you haven’t visited this place before, then the range of species here might well surprise you.

The Sado estuary is a Ramsar site of international importance.
Here you can watch around 70.000 birds of more than 250 different species, all year round. The estuary incorporates a number of different habitats, ranging from inter-tidal mudflats, salt marshes, salt pans, rice fields, reed beds and river beaches, to sand-dunes, small dams and slopes covered in cork and pine.
Some of the areas of major interest include: Gâmbia, Zambujal, Pinheiro, Monte Novo de Palma, Batalha, Cachopos, Carrasqueira and Comporta.

This sparsely populated region is a vital stronghold for Great and Little Bustards – and excellent for birds of prey, too. Resident Eurasian Black Vultures and Eurasian Griffons share the skies with Spanish Imperial, Golden and Bonelli’s Eagles, and by late February, the first Lesser Kestrels should be returning from their winter quarters in Africa.

Greater Flamingo, Glossy Ibis, Squacco Heron, Purple Swamphen and Eurasian Penduline, all are to be looked for. More birds like Black Stork, Calandra and Thekla Larks, Eurasian Crag Martin, Blue Rock-thrush, Spanish Sparrow and Rock Bunting are among other exciting species to watch for as you can listen for the tell-tale chuckling of Black-bellied Sandgrouse flying over the steppe.

Each year this region is attracting more and more people from across the world interested in birdwatching and if you come to Setúbal you have a bonus, because you might as well observe the small and unique population of Bottle-nosed Dolphins, resident in the estuary.

Douro wines, Portugal. My favourite since very first sip.

info by www.cellartours.com

Port was a historical accident. We all know how English merchants, at the end of the 17th century, ventured deep into the Douro Valley to find wine to send to Britain; how the wine was dark, strong and ropey; and how they learned to add brandy to preserve the fruit in the wine and make it stable enough to survive the sea journey north.

The process, however, wasn't created in a day. Even at the beginning of the 19th century port shippers had yet to learn the precise moment when to add the brandy and it was another generation before port shippers tamed the wild wine, adding fermenting must to about a quarter of the quantity of spirit to stop the fermentation and preserve the sugars in the port. In the meantime occasional pleas were entered for the continued production of Douro table wines. In his History and Description of Modern Wines of 1833, Cyrus Redding asked why 'Englishmen should not have the benefit of the best wines of the Cima do Douro in a pure state, without adventitious mixtures?'. 

Portuguese critics were more ferocious: the novelist Camillo Castelo Branco referred to 

port as a 'killer wine', and the result of 'English bestiality'.

Fortified wine won the day, however, due to the superior quality of those great 19th-century vintages. In the previous century it had been little more than a coarse, alcoholic tipple for rustic whigs who believed that, by drinking Portuguese wines, they were depriving the hated French of their livelihood - akin to drinking Australian wine today, perhaps. The European Union is the godfather of properly made Douro table wine. Portugal's admission to the Club in 1986 provided the incentive to limit port production and foster the making of natural wines, but there had been a revival of interest in table wines in the post-war years and those early pioneers created the models for the Douro table wines of our own time. 
The greatest 'prehistoric' example is, of course, Barca Velha, created in 1952. The wine was the invention of Fernando Nicolau de Almeida, whose job was to make port for Ferreira. Stationed at the Quinta do Vale de Meão he allegedly grew tired of the drinks on offer. 

After visiting Bordeaux he returned with a bee in his bonnet about making a claret-style wine in the Douro Valley. He achieved this by sagely blending wine from the high country with that from the valley floor, and keeping it cool by using huge blocks of ice. For the first time in hundreds of years, a non-fortified Douro wine had been made which would justify the high price demanded for it.

Fernando's son João was the next pioneer. Through his study of the best grape varieties for the valley and the reforms he instigated in the nature of terracing, Duas Quintas was born, a wine which, in its Reserva version, would prove a rival to his father's creation. There were other forerunners besides: Grande Escolha (or 'Grand Selection') from Quinta do Côtto is a near contemporary of Duas Quintas, and in its rather more hot-country, leathery style, it remains one of the Douro's best reds. At Quinta de la Rosa the Bergquists started making table wine in the 1980s. 

Their guru was the Australian, David Baverstock, who designed another great Douro red, the reserve wine from Quinta do Crasto.

From his base in the Alentejo, Baverstock is utterly convinced of the potential for great unfortified wine in the Douro Valley: 'It can rate as the best wine in the world - certainly the best in Portugal.'

But before that can be brought about, a great Douro wine needs the right varieties, altitude, low yields and good vineyards; and the chief impediment to progress is port: if there were no port, there would be a great many more quality grapes to play with. Baverstock is not alone in his view. Frenchman Pascal Châtonnet makes the wines at Quinta do Portal (once Quinta do Confradeiro). 'Like Dirk van der Niepoort, Châtonnet maintains that you can't use the same grapes for the two wines and so no one has yet been able to measure precisely how good Douro table wines could be: 'Port wine vineyards are made up of many different grape varieties, unmixed plots are rare.'

Another problem is the beneficios system, which limits port production to three tons per hectare, setting aside any extra yield for table wines. Not only does this reinforce the view that table wine comes second and should use up leftovers, it also prevents producers from looking at the land seriously to decide which plots would best suit table wines and which would be better limited to port production. Niepoort, for one, is adamant about this. For him there are only a handful of people who examine the various terroirs of the Douro to work out what sort of wines they should be making: he names Bruce Guimaraens, until 1994 winemaker at Taylor-Fonseca, and Johnny Graham of Churchill. It is significant that Niepoort, Graham and Guimaraens all represent firms where the chief vocation has been to make port. Table wine is, after all, in its infancy. 

Almost all port companies make table wines now, but there is still resistance to the idea of using the best grapes on the part of the old port firms and Taylor's, for example, still won't countenance the idea of making non-fortified wine at all, even if Fonseca makes a little white, sold only in Portugal.

Very exciting has been the recent appearance of Chryseia - Symingtons' collaboration with Bruno Prats of Bordeaux. This is a serious wine which tilts at the very top of the market. It doesn't wish to be sweet and porty and shuns the leathery aromas that predominate elsewhere. It leans towards a Bordelais notion of elegance, but is richer and fuller than any of Châtonnet's wines. 

There are plenty of Douro wines to choose from now and some are very exciting indeed. A serious list would have to take in not only the examples named above, but also Niepoort's Charme and Battuta, Quanta da Pacheca, Quinta do Vale de Meão, Barca Velha's present base, Evel Grande Escolha, Vinha do Fôjo, Quinta da Covelos and the new reserve wine from Quinta do Vallado.

Discover. See. Taste!