Romantic travel. Portugal

Romance.. Most special time. There is no better setting for it than in magic Portugal Douro valley, one of most beautiful wine regions in the world

Now. Just two of you. Sharing unforgettable, so pleasant experience, discovering, learning, admiring new sensations, tasting and finding .. Together! 

This is what make sit so special, so beautifully strong - your romance, passion, this amazing experience you've shared
And the beauty is in simple things!

Sunset kiss. Warm cuddle while admiring an endless Douro panoramas. 

Sharing a glass or two of delicious wines of the region, tasting, discussing, finding your own unforgettable one
Or ones ) because here you will share so many special moments, so much joy and great emotions, you'll keep this feeling in you memory forever
And it'll make your love strong 

And love of travelling. Of exploring this magnificent region. And many more beautiful secrets of Portugal, the ones that will open your eyes to a beauty of simplicity, its regional gastronomic delights and will give you much food for thought and many romantic moments and stories to tell )

Be romantic. Feel happy. Travel. Discover Portugal together - and keep your flame going

Travel. Romance. Magnificent Costa Alentejana area of Portugal

The sun is our greatest asset. On the Costa Alentejana, summer can stretch from March until November. From Alcácer do Sal to Odemira, there are miles of beaches to discover. From the extensive beaches in the north to the little coves hidden among the cliffs in the south, a calm and secret ocean awaits you. No traffic, no crowds.

Located in Southwest Portugal, the Costa Alentejana is a region of unique characteristics, accessed in a few hours from any major European airport. Few destinations in the world combine, in such harmony, development and tradition with comfort and nature, an itinerary of sporting, cultural and leisure activities with the tranquillity of a natural and built landscape that invites tranquillity, romance and relaxation.

This whole scene of natural life can be covered in romantic walks on foot, horseback, boat, or along the graceful roads that cut through the landscape. Because time is on our side and a single moment, if well spent, can last a lifetime.

Beaches are just one of many features of the Costa Alentejana. Throughout the region you will find incredible, unspoiled landscape, natural lakes, reservoirs and places where you could be forgiven for thinking that the sun was setting just for you.

Celebrating unique moments

The Costa Alentejana is romantic. It is a destination of choice for those who love beauty, nature, life and love, above all, for those who want to share this with someone. For a vacation away from the daily routine that distracts us from what is truly important or just to celebrate a special event, here you will find numerous hotels, pousadas, restaurants and bars waiting to be discovered by two. Many experiences only make sense lived side by side.

Hotels overlooking the sea, pousadas built between silence and the landscape, rural tourism accommodation in the heart of nature. The Costa Alentejana is a map of charming places for every romance. Modern and elegant, natural and discreet, elegant and sincere.

Life should be celebrated at the table, with a cuisine refined over centuries and accompanied with exceptional wines. From cosy typical restaurants to areas of the latest design, you’re in good company, with the surf breaking on the sand and the sky sprinkled with stars.

After toasting to the present and the future, come and discover the past.

The castles, churches, museums and ruins that remind us, that long ago, the Roman Empire arrived here, at the gates to the Atlantic. And lose yourself in fairs, festivals and processions.

You can dance the whole year to the tune of local songs or wait for the big summer festivals, when the Costa Alentejana becomes the world capital of music.

Love needs time and space. And time and space are precisely what the Costa Alentejana specializes in. Time and space to leave the world behind for a while. Time and space to break the routine and be free. Time and space for romance. Time and space to rediscover each other and celebrate.

by CostaAlentejana

Gastronomic delights of Alentejo region, Portugal.

Various gastronomic events bring to the daily life of appreciators coming from all over the most characteristic elements in Alentejan cooking, in large part fruit of the imagination which poor country people have applied to the business of providing food.

To mention first the most essential element, bread. Present at every meal, it is baked in a wood oven and has a dense texture. It is central to migas (bread puree, often accompanying pork and soaked in the pork liqueur), açordas (dishes and main-course soups with a bread base), ensopados (stews with a bread base) and fatias douradas (slices of bread rolled in milk and fried in eggs whisked with sugar).

The variety of savoury titbits to accompany a drink, savouring of the seasons and the toil of the fields. Aromatic herbs fill the air around the houses and escape from the cooking pot: coriander, pennyroyal, oregano, parsley, thyme and rosemary. Thanks to them, the palate experiences a melange of delightful sensations, the result of what was a desire, in bygone days, to relieve the tedium of poverty or simply a means of preserving fresh food.

Add a drizzle of pure, virgin olive oil, which accompanies most things perfectly. Alentejan cheeses and wines have consolidated their fame as excellent starters and even better desserts.

Their variety and quality pleasantly surprise those who go looking for them. Denomination of origin has had a notable effect in the diversification of artisanal produce.

The wines have been typified in this way since the 80’s: the average quality improved instantly and meant that each one could be easily recognised according to vineyard and location. The reserve wines from some of the most highly regarded labels, and therefore of limited production, go to better quality restaurants or are exported, so it is a good idea to seek them out in the finer hotels, so as to sample these exquisite nectars that do not reach the public at large. At the same time, the programme Rota dos Vinhos do Alentej (wine route of the Alentejo) has opened wineries to visitors, so that they may taste the wine at the vineyard of the actual producer.

Cured meats are another regional speciality – highly specialised, to tell the truth, due to the fine nuances in the skill that creates them, as well as the variety in seasoning. The person doing the smoking undoubtedly affects the outcome. It is a job requiring patience, and it is plodding work and should not be done in haste.

Fresh from the ocean, fish arrive at the auction and disappear in boxes. Nowadays, the freshness of catches is guaranteed by modern cold storage techniques, even in the hot interior. But tradition still dictates caldeirada (fish stew) on the coast, dog-fish and river fish inland, and eels and marinated sardines everywhere. Is it time for lunch yet?

At the end of any afternoon establishments selling beer and seafood bring all sorts of connoisseurs together.

Goose barnacles, prawns and crabs are so linked to the leisure time of a group of friends, just like love is to a romantic encounter, that it is hours before they wend their way homewards.

Pork, lamb and beef, all from livestock reared in open spaces and not fed at a stable trough. The meat has an intense, natural flavour! These are beasts which know nothing of fixed rations but which

graze during all seasons at any time of the day or night, wandering in the meadows.

And for those who appreciate wild boar, hare, partridge and wood pigeon, they can sample from fine menus, when the season is favourable, some of the famous delicacies from the montado (cork woodland combined with pasture).

Eggs, sugar or honey, almonds, pine nuts, gourd, all turned into miraculous recipes in convents, cooked with great patience and some secret ingredients, continue to afford moments of unequal pleasure, in equal measure in the shape of cakes and puddings.

Meals go on forever. At times, one seems to merge into the next one, if the conversation and company are good. Time becomes intoxicated, the senses languid, satisfied.

by turismoportugal

Great Portuguese wines. N4 in a World ranking this year.

This year Portugal has achieved 4^th place in World Wine ranking list, with chosen 10 best Portuguese wines.

 The Wine Enthusiast magazine has issued the 100 Best Wines list, a Cellar Selection. The item price is not the major factor here, but an absolute quality.

Here is the great Portugal wines list, their score and the origin

 Wine Enthusiast top 100 Cellar Selections ('Vinhos Portugueses')

12 place – Quinta do Vale Meão 2009 Red (Douro ).  95 points

18 place - Herdade do Esporão 2008 TN Touriga Nacional (Alentejano).  94 points

27 place - Quinta da Romaneira 2008 Tinto (Douro).  94 points

36 place - Taylor Fladgate 2009 Vintage Porto.  96 points

48 place - Quinta do Crasto 2009 Reserva Vinhas Velhas (Douro).  94 points

57 place - Dao Sul 2009 Casa de Santar Conde de Santar (Dão).  94 points

67 place - Cartuxa 2009 Pêra-Manca Branco (Alentejo). 94 points

75 place - Niepoort 2009 Vintage Port.  95 points

83 place - Prats & Symington LDA 2009 Chryseia (Douro).  94 points

91 place  - Luis Duarte 2010 Rubrica Branco (Alentejano).  94 points

Cheers to this! Lets discover and enjoy! 

Unique Portuguese wine. Alvarinho caste.

Alvarinho is one of the greatest treasures of Portugal.
It is from the sub-region of Monção and Melgaço that Alvarinho reveals and achieves the maximum of its potential, in a unique territory, due to natural reasons related to soil and the microclimate.

It is considered by recognized experts the best Portuguese white grape and one of the best grapes in the world.

Monção and Melgaço, not far away from the Atlantic Ocean, keep themselves protected against sea winds by mountains in a natural relation that allows the perfect conjugation between the rainfall, temperature and the number of hours of sunshine necessary to the best maturation of the Alvarinho grapes.

The vineyards cultivated in amphitheaters of natural beauty are placed in a sunny location refreshed by the Minho river.

Alvarinho is a white grape from the vitis specie, which originates very small bunches, winged and compact, leading to an unproductive grape, aspect that is contemplated in the Statutes of The Region, which gives it a maximum efficiency per hectare of 60 hl against 80 hl for the other grapes.

It originates unique wines, easily identifiable, combined qualities, such as its strong temperament and personality.

With citric colour and splendid flavor, Alvarinho is exquisite, bond and robust, besides its elegance, balance and minerality. Its acidity and freshness make Alvarinho a vibrant and cheerful wine.

The alcoholic strength of Alvarinho wine is 11,5% vol., all above the traditional standards of other green wines (9%).

There are several theories about the origin of Alvarinho caste. It is said that it came from Reno, others say that it came from Greece and others (maybe the right ones) say that it came from the Northeast of Iberian Peninsula, more precisely from this Sub-region, where, all over the centuries, Alvarinho adapted itself to the soil and climate characteristics.

By the Decree-law 275/73, the tradition was confirmed and legalized in Portugal.

The designation of origin Alvarinho was assigned to the wine produced exclusively in the Sub-region of Monção and Melgaço of the Demarcated Region of Green Wines, where there are the ideal conditions of microclimate and soil to the cultivation and maturation of this unique and genuine grape.

by quintasdemelgaco.pt

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

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

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

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! 

Alentejo bread and wine. Portuguese regional gastronomy.

Bread is one of the most important products in the world isn't it? Almost the first one we try after switching from mother's milk to a real food.. And we keep this love to bread throughout the whole life. Experiment. Try different countries variations.. And definitely one of the best places to enjoy a great variety of delicious, home made bread is Portugal of course. 
And here we'll talk about amazing Alentejo, regions in the South of Portugal, that has, besides its famous beaches, vineyards and historical monuments and heritage - one of the biggest variety of gastronomic delights. Especially bread! 'Alentejano' breat as it is beang called here. 

The characteristics of the earth and the heat of the sun give the Alentejo two treasures, exalted by poets, praised by all, fruits of ancient lore.

Bread and wine are an unbeatable Alentejo duet, which deserve to be sampled more than once. The vineyards and cornfields leave their stamp on the landscape of the region and on the life and culture of the people.

The cornfields undulate all over the Alentejo, formerly known as the nation's granary, and there is no part that does not take pride in its bread. When the proper procedures are observed, including the wood-fired oven, the bread of the Alentejo is the best in the world. Try it and see.

Respect for bread making is high in these parts, so much so that there is even a Brotherhood of Bread. You can visit it and obtain all information at a farmhouse in Terena (Alandroal).

Be sure also to try some of the wonders of Alentejo gastronomy that owe everything or almost everything to bread: the fine migas (fried bread in oil) and açordas (purée of bread), the ensopado (stew with bread) and the fatias douradas (sweet fried bread).

Another proof of the wisdom of the Alentejo lies in the justly famous wines. Follow one (or all) of the tempting wine routes and take the suggested itineraries through the wine-producing areas and cellars. While you do so, take the chance to learn more about the towns and villages dedicated to the art of winemaking. Taste them all, from the fruity to the strong whites, from the light to the full-bodied reds.

In Redondo, where you can taste wines at the Enoteca (wine institute), visit the Alentejo Regional Wine Museum, with a very large collection of objects related to this culture, where you can learn how the grape reaches the glass.

With a good glass of Alentejo wine, and feeling the peace of the plains, don't forget to propose a toast to the Alentejo.

by visitportugal.com

Vinho de Talha - How Wines Are Made the Ancient Way in Portugal's Alentejo

by James Martin @about.com

Vinho de Talha - wines made in the roman way.

You can hardly avoid the Roman presence in Portugal's Alentejo region. It's not just the presence of Roman farm house ruins, each located within a few hundred meters of a modern farm house. Walk into any typical village "Adega" or "Taberna" and you'll likely be dwarfed by rows of massive amphorae or wine pots. Called "talha", these pots may be mere decoration--or they may actually contain up to 1000 liters of house-made wine called "vinho de talha" made exactly the way Romans made wine.

Pictured above is the Adega Regional Pais das Uvas, a restaurant which produces the vinho de talhait serves as a house wine along with traditional country fare from the Alentejo region of Portugal.

The owners were kind enough to allow me to watch the process by which grapes become vinho de talha, a wine which locals claim contains more vitamins, more aroma and more body. I can't vouch for the vitamins, but the wine poured at Pais das Uvas was certainly fragrant and deep, with an amazingly clarity, considering the simplicity of a process that doesn't include mechanical filtering or fining.

Follow along as we take you into the world of vinho de talha production. At the end of the journey you'll find information on visiting the restaurant and other tabernas serving vinho de talha and notes on where you can actually see people stomping grapes for top commercial wines in the Alentejo.

Moscatel de Setúbal won International Contest Muscats du Monde

Moscatel de Setúbal won International Contest Muscats du Monde

Douro wine

Great Port wine always makes life just perfect. We must let ourselves indulge!)