Lunch in the Douro at Quinta Vale do Meão

After the ’09 EWBC ended in Lisbon, myself and about 20 other winebloggers were invited to visit the Douro Valley by the Douro Boys. The Douro Boys are 5 Portuguese wine makers who have come together to make exciting  still table wines from the Douro Valley and to show that there’s a lot more to Portugal than Port. The...

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What a year it’s been! So long 2009, Hello 2010…

I’m not really one to look back, I’m either daydreaming about the future or looking forward to tonight’s wine – more or less the same thing. But I saw one of Niamh’s tweets about her year-end round-up and it got me to reminiscing about my vinous adventures this past  year. The great thing about a blog...

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Daytrip from Lisbon to the Quinta do Sanguinhal, D.O.C. Obidos

Before the EWBC ’09, I was speaking to a friend of mine, Miguel Leal of Casa Leal, importers of premium Portuguese wine to the UK, and he invited me to visit one of his favourite wineries in Portugal, the Quinta do Sanguinhal in the D.O.C. Obidos region. Situated about an hour north of Lisbon, Quinta do Sanguinhal was...

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Liquid dessert – Andresen 40 year old tawny port

After a huge Christmas feast you’d think I’d have no room for dessert and you’d be right. BUT I did have room for liquid dessert,  namely a glass or 3 of Andresen 40 year old Tawny port. Andresen is one of the few family owned port houses remaining. Andresen was originally founded in 1845 by the Dutchman JH...

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I could get used to this…Aquapura, Duoro Valley

After the European Winebloggers Conference 2009, a number of us bloggers were driven what seemed like forever through windy, mountainous roads to get to the Douro Valley and visit the Douro Boys to taste all their fantastic wines. I’ve got loads of pix and I’ve made a couple of slide shows but I just wanted to devote a...

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