Category: portugal

I tasted through many years this year through Trade tastings with agents and BC VQA wineries, the Vancouver International Wine Festival, visits to wineries, and personal purchases.  I rate all the wines I taste from 1 to 5 stars.  Fortunately, the quality of many wines is quite good, giving them at least a 3 out of 5-star rating.  At the…

It’s like Carly Simon says if you are willing to play the game, its “Coming Around Again”. This time I’m talking about Mateus sparkling wine from Portugal. The oval dark green Mateus Rosé sparkling wine bottle is probably very familiar to my parent’s generation, and to me by assimilation.  But for the younger people, GenX and Millennials, Mateus may not be on their…

Portugal is more than just port wine.  That is where most people’s experience with Portuguese wines may have started and stopped, but Portuguese wines are so much more.  I quite enjoy the red and white blends from Portugal. They are very food friendly and tend to be ready to drink once purchased. There are more than 250 grape varieties in…

The 39th Vancouver International Wine Festival starts on Feb 24, 2018.  What an amazing success, for the Festival to be bringing us wines from around the world to our doorstep, along with a winery principal!  There will be 1400+ wines to taste through all events, and more than 700 wines in the Festival Tasting Room.  Our theme countries for this…

One of the things I really enjoy about the Vancouver International Wine Festival is the ability to talk to wine makers and/or winery owners about their vineyards, their harvest, and their wines.  It makes tasting the wine so much more interesting, and may spur you to travel to visit that winery, or country, or region.  This year we will have…

Who We Are The Serrano Mira family is one of the oldest families involved in wine production in the Alentejo region of Portugal. Clay containers used for winemaking dating back to 1667 have been conserved on its properties. In 1955 the maternal great-grandfather of the two brothers Carlos and Luís – the sixth generation of winemakers in the family –…

This past year I tasted a tremendous number of wines from around the world, but some wines really resonated with me.  It may have been the great balance of fruit, sugar, acidity for a white wine, or the fruit, tannins and minerality in a red wine, or something else. Something that made the wine stand above the other wines.  Could…

Quinta de Soalheiro, a pioneer in the creation of Alvarinho wine in Melgaço, is an international benchmark for the wines of this grape variety, blending perfectly into the distinctive Minho landscape surrounding it. Located in Melgaço (Portugal’s northernmost point) it is protected by a range of mountains that create the conditions necessary for the best ripening of the Alvarinho grapes. History of the Family and the Brand…

History of Sanguinhal Wines One of the oldest wineries in Lisbon, Portugal, Agricola Sanguinhal was founded In 1926, by Abel Pereira da Fonseca. He was an innovator, with a passion for his family, grape-growing, and winemaking. He planted Sanguinhal’s first vines on virgin land, which has been farmed without the use of any harsh chemicals ever since, and is now certified…

The History of the House of Ramos Pinto The House Ramos Pinto, in Portugal, was founded in 1880 and for several decades, its history has been marked by a balance between innovation and respect for tradition. In the production and selection of the best grapes, in the systematic knowledge of the terroir and being the pioneer in the launching of…