Portugal. Alentejo. Nature and heritage. Relaxation.

Located in Southwest Portugal, the Costa Alentejana is a region with unique characteristics, accessible in just a few hours from any major European airport.

Very few destinations in the world combine, in such harmony, development and tradition, comfort and nature, and an itinerary of excellent sporting, cultural and leisure activities within a peaceful natural and built landscape that invites relaxation, entertainment and discovery.

The Costa Alentejana is probably one of the best-kept secrets of the traveller’s world.

Although increasingly visited by domestic and international tourists, this region has managed to preserve all the original and authentic characteristics that made it a sanctuary

of nature and relaxation.

Enjoy this leisure, taking all the time in the world.

The first step is to choose one of the many hotels in the region. Modern hotels, quiet ‘pousadas’ - a family owned boutique hotel type accommodation,  small lodgings that make hospitality a work of art.

Comfort,  variety and great taste, which extends to the table of any of the local restaurants too.

Delicious gastronomy delights! Fresh fish, selected meat, organic vegetables, irresistible desserts made from traditional popular recipes, or those from regional abbeys.

Alentejo cuisine has many regional specialities within itself and  is a result of centuries of refinement and is one of Portugal’s greatest treasures.

Open all year round

Now, choose the best time to come. It’s quite simple really. From March to November, we generally find the lowest temperature is a pleasant 11C’.

Winter occurs in the remaining three months, sun and very mild temperature, that invites us to indulge in various pleasures here: wine tasting, regional gastronomy proving in front of fireplaces, the luxury of falling asleep and waking up to the sound of the surf.

Sun is the most famous resident of the Costa Alentejana. It warms thousands of miles of unexplored beaches and illuminates a sumptuous landscape that offers unforgettable views.

Discover the region that is home to ancient Roman settlements, centuries-old castles, towns and villages full of history.
Visit the casino, the museums, the nature and wildlife parks. Discover crafts, music and culture celebrated at fairs and festivals.

On the Costa Alentejana, we like to savour life slowly, welcoming those who arrive with an itinerary of appropriate physical activities.

Golf is one of our passions. Another is to surrender the mind and body to the care of the spas in the region.

And a list of activities is actually really extensive! Fishing and diving, boat trips on the river or along the coast. Watching birds or dolphins. Hiking and horseback riding. Surfing, bodyboarding, canoeing... All dedicated to four key things: health, fun, relaxation, making the most of this breath-taking landscape, without disturbing nature anyhow.

Costa Alentejana is a natural reserve of comfort and relaxation. A land of authentic people and customs, that shunned mass tourism and which has learned to develop and modernize without losing its essence. This identity cherishes, above all else, time.

Time to live, feel, taste and learn. Come and discover it all and enjoy yourself!

by CostaAlentejana

Wines of Portugal. Portuguese wines awarded again.

Portuguese wines awarded in Germany. Of course. And ther is still so much more to taste, descover and  be delighted!

More wine tasting trips ahead!

Wines of Portugal | A world of difference | News article | Portuguese wines awarded in Germany

Takeover of Portugal's Largest Wine Company Defeated | News | News & Features | Wine Spectator

Hostile Takeover of Portugal's Largest Wine Company Defeated | News | News & Features | Wine Spectator

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! 

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

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

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! 

Driving in Portugal: A Trail of Two Cities

http://www.aswetravel.com/driving-in-portugal-a-trail-of-two-cities/
by Michelle Wilson

Landing in Faro, one of the closest European cities to the equator, it’s so warm that you can see the heat sizzling from the surface of the runway.

Still, it has a passionate identity of its own and only those with a heart for adventure can truly experience it all.

The best way to get around Portugal is by car and take a long time. Book a rental car with air conditioning and you’re free to follow this guide to exploring Portugal in the most awesome way possible – cruising along its western coast.

Faro

You’re starting in Faro because you’re about to embark on a round trip, one which can be done within just two days, so this city will be your second-home for the remainder of your holiday and its location on the southernmost tip of Portugal’s mainland means it’s almost tropical – the perfect base for a driving holiday.

Travel tales over coffee

First, you need to stop off at Café Alianca, just 10 minutes from the airport – over 100 years old, this place is something special and if the architecture of the Jose Pedro da Silva building isn’t enough to convince you, the feeling of the fresh coffee washing down a traditional Spanish pastry will.

Heading out of the city

Take the A22 westbound, away from the main highway and onto the open coastal road travelling north (N120).  This route is the best as you don’t lose any time and you can spend more time in the Old Town of Sines – the midway point between Faro and Lisbon.

The roads in Sines are lined with palm trees and the battlements of the town castle, looking out into the Atlantic, provide the perfect setting for an early photo in your adventure album.

Two hours to the capital

Now, you can link up to the A2 highway from here quite easily but it’s all about the shoreline drive, so stick to the N261 and head towards Cambado – the sheer size of the sun as it sets into the Atlantic on your left is worth the detour alone – this is why you picked up a car rental in Portugal.

Quick tip: Make sure you take a right onto the N253 not the N253-1, when you have the choice. Basically, follow the signs for Motinha, then ignore Motinha altogether and follow the N253 through to the A2 … it’s not as complicated as it sounds and even if you do get lost, all those villages along the Estuario do Sado river are beautiful in their own right.

Once you’re on the A2 (there’s an electronic toll by the way – if you don’t have the change, you can take a ticket and pay the euros at the post office when you get to Lisbon), it’s time to focus on the road… or take some more scenic diversions as you pass through Setubal – a city famed for its beaches and wine (best to stay off the latter when behind the wheel).

Lisbon

Entering the city via the Ponte Salazar suspension bridge, over the Tagus River, really lets you know you’ve arrived in the capital – all the raw Portuguese culture is behind you and in Lisbon, you’ll be welcomed with an array of travellers from all over the world, along with some passionate Lisbions too of course.

The traveler’s meal

You can head into the touristy centre of town but the hostel-surfers in Europe will all agree that a bar like Pavilhão Chinês is what the real Lisbon is all about.

Sit down in this quirky venue, decorated by what looks like a hoard of stolen merchandise from the capital’s Ancient Art Museum, and tuck in to the tapas here – the ridiculously well-dressed bar staff  are particularly proud of their dishes.

Stay a night or two…or five…

Now, you’ve seen Faro, you’ve seen Lisbon, and you’ve seen some mesmerising Portuguese trails along the way – now you have a choice:

• Stock up on some Lisbion photo moments in a whistle-stop tour around the city (make sure you visit Jeronimo’s Monastery) and head back to sunny Faro the next day.
• Take it slow and enjoy everything this traveller’s hub has to offer, both in the city and out on the suburbs (Sintra Cascais National Park is another Portuguese paradise only really reachable by car, on the outskirts of Lisbon).
• Keep heading northbound along the coast to Porto, the second-largest city in the country and one of the best holiday locations in Europe.

Whatever you choose, you’re memory-making holiday in Portugal will only get better as it goes on –  book your car hire now – then you’re free to travel the entire country – the best bit has to be returning to Faro and knowing exactly where to pick up the best coffee, this time it will be you swapping the travel stories and travel tips with fresh road-trippers

Porto. Portugal. River Douro view.

Vintage Porto in Portugal.

@Guardian

With its 14th-century walls, bell tower and ornate tiles, there is much to see in Porto. But as our writer finds on a weekend break, there's one really good reason to visit Porto- the city, with the Clérigos tower on the skyline; azulejos in the train station at Pinhão; and grape pickers in the Douro Valley.

Be warned: stopping for a sandwich in Porto might floor you for the rest of the afternoon, at least if you tuck into the local speciality, a Francesinha – generous amounts of steak and cured ham stuffed between slices of toast, swathed in a mass of melted cheese and then doused with a boozy tomato sauce, with chips and beer optional but recommended.
On the bright side for the health conscious, there's plenty of chance to walk it off in Porto's vertiginous streets, which rise up from the banks of the Douro river in a jumble of winding paths, broad avenues and shady squares.
And multiple opportunities to stop and stare: at the 20,000 blue-and-white tiles (azulejos) depicting scenes from Portuguese history in the São Bento railway station; at the iron facades that adorn countless shops and restaurants, and which will, our guide assures us, survive the city's gradual modernisation; at the city's magnificent Romanesque cathedral; at the famous and wonderfully preserved Lello bookshop, in which a diminutive cart distributes stock on a shopfloor railway.
If you get lost, navigate by the tall bell tower of the Clérigos church, visible from virtually everywhere in the city; or by the surviving sections of the 14th-century Fernandine defensive walls, hewn out of the granite on and out of which Porto is built.

Chances are, though, that these and other attractions – the vast glass-and-steel Casa da Música designed by Rem Koolhas the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art in its beautifully landscaped gardens – are not the first things that spring to mind when you think of Porto.

Today hoteliers and restaurateurs are keen to expand by drawing attention to Porto as a breath-of-fresh-air alternative to other European city-break destinations, such as Barcelona, Berlin and Amsterdam. For the first two nights, we stay in the palatial Yeatman hotel, which sits overlooking the Douro from the Vila Nova de Gaia region on the south side of the river. Barely a year old, the hotel is the brainchild and pet project of Adrian Bridge, the managing director of Taylor's, and although port and wine are central to its aesthetic – from the decanter-shaped swimming pool to the Caudalie Vinothérapie treatments in the vast spa – he is keen to make sure Porto no longer hides its light under a bushel.

For the fairly well-heeled traveller, the Yeatman is a luxurious and comfortable base, all hushed corridors you could drive a car down and impeccable service; right next to the byzantine network of narrow roads that connect the city's long established port-wine cellars and a short hop over one of Porto's six river bridges to the bustling north side. Those who prefer to stay right in the heart of town might try the Teatro, a more modern (and modestly priced) hotel that takes its design inspiration from the theatre that stood on the site in the 19th century.

Going upscale again, there's the five-star, almost implausibly beautiful Infante Sagres, where the likes of Bob Dylan and the Dalai Lama have stayed. We don't bunk in with them, but the hotel has recently opened a brasserie-style restaurant called Book, and we enjoy a delicious dinner there.

We also visit a couple of posher establishments that seem to fall in with the image of the hip new Porto currently being promoted.

They are fine, but it seems to both of us that they offer the kind of food and atmosphere not hard to find in most European capitals; self-consciously refined, artfully presented, comparatively expensive. But the one culinary experience not to miss is eating barbecued sardines in the harbour district of Matosinhos, a short drive from the city centre. Follow the smoke and head for the Rua Heróis de França, where you can take your pick from a lengthy row of plainly decorated restaurants, each with an outsized pavement grill and bursting with people – all piscine life is on the menu, but the sardines, newly caught and whacked on the barbecue with nothing but salt, are sensational (and unfeasibly cheap).

Porto's enthusiasts are right to point out that there's far more to the city than its most famous product but you'd be unwise not to pay it some attention. Sit on the banks of the river and sip it in its white, pink, ruby, tawny and late-bottled vintage incarnations, looking idly at the rabelo boats that are now a tourist attraction but were traditionally used to transport casks of the stuff down river from the Douro Valley.

And, if you're here for more than a couple of days, don't miss out on the chance to head further inland to the small towns and never-ending vineyards of the Douro itself, less than a couple of hours away by car and also reachable by train to Régua or Pinhão, or by river cruise. We drive and experience proper dropped jaws when we turn off the motorway and arrive at the first viewing point: from high up, all you can see is a vast expanse of broad river and enough grapes, it seems, to keep the world drunk for ever.

In 24 hours, we manage to lunch on roast kid at Régua's splendid Castas e Pratos restaurant, visit the Douro museum, relax in the cool luxury of the Aquapura spa hotel and sample the wares of no fewer than four different quintas (including the Quinta do Seixo, owned by Sandeman, where, somewhat comically, we are shown around by a man in the trademark black hat and cape). At one, the family-owned Quinta da Pacheca, we taste the delicious wines and port so comprehensively that a cooling swim and a short nap are required before dinner (after which, of course, more port).

We're certainly not up to the grape-treading that you can participate in at some of the smaller quintas – although most grape-crushing is now mechanised, traditional methods are still to be found. Spittoons are not much in evidence and so a word of caution: unless you are teetotal and have nerves of steel, consider enlisting the services of a driver to take you on quinta visits: when we visit, during the September harvest, the fairly challenging roads are further complicated by the constant traffic of grape trucks.

By the end, we feel we know more about port wine than had imagined possible: that its grapes grow so well here because of the schist soil that regulates night-time temperatures; that one of its greatest producers was a woman named Dona Antónia Adelaide Ferreira; and that the little chapels that dot the riverside sprang up to bless the rabelo boatmen who might come a cropper in its treacherous shallows. I also realise that I will come back – here and to Porto – again and again, and that its champions are right to think it can give other short-haul destinations a run for their money.

Douro wine

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