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Food & Drink in the Algarve, Portugal
what to drink during your stay in the Algarve
Wines of Portugal - Portuguese Wine Tasting
Bom Dia
Welcome to the Algarve Retreats wine article for November.
At the end of September I was in Birmingham for a very special Portuguese wine tasting, seminar and lunch at Bank restaurant, Brindley Place hosted by ICEP & ViniPortugal, and presented by well-known wine personage Robert Joseph. I begin this month by telling you about the wines shown there and also the pairing with the special menu provided by the Chef team at Bank.
 The Wines:
Tasting - Alvarinho Grand'Arte, Estremadura; Quinta dos Carvailhas Encruzado, Dao; Borges Touriga Nacional, Dao; Quinta da Aguieira Touriga Nacional, Beiras & Quinta de la Rosa Reserva, Douro
The Alvarinho of course is the premium variety of Vinho Verde but here was an excellent example from elsewhere in Portugal, while the Encruzado varietal was proposed by Robert as a `Chardonnay alternative', big & fat & buttery. Then we were able to compare and contrast the pair of Touriga wines - that dominant variety in the Douro and of Port, followed lastly by the big and powerfully impressive Douro from the excellent Bergqvist's de la Rosa quinta. As a small but select flight of wines, what came across most to us all was the overall quality being made in the diverse regions.
Lunch - Quinta de Soalheiro Alvarinho, Vinho Verde; Niepoort Redoma, Douro; Luis Pato Old Vines, Bairrada; Alianca Garrafeira, Bairrada; Callabriga Alentejo & JMF Moscatel de Setubal
And here's how we paired the wines with the menu, along with my thoughts on how the combinations worked.
T he Soalheiro made an excellent aperitif, with its crisp, fresh acidity really opening up the taste buds. The starter of Pressed Ham Hock & Parsley Terrine, Peach & Nectarine Chutney was accompanied by the 2 wines respectively from those great winemakers, Dirk Niepoort and Luis Pato. For me the Pato old vines was the better match as the Redoma had substantial integrated oak making it much heavier. However, just to prove how subjective this all is, many of my peers around the tables liked this better!
Our main course was Spiced Rump of Lamb with Garlic Infused Runner Beans, Olive Oil Polenta and a Port Reduction. For me this was at least one too many flavours to cope with. Very well cooked but there was just so much going on and that was without the wines. And this comment from someone who is very guilty when it comes to putting several flavours in his cooking! The pair of wines served here were the Alianca and Callabriga reds. The first is a very sound wine from the very good Caves Alianca and the second, one of a concept range from the large company of Sogrape - owners by the way of both Mateus Rose & Sandemans Ports & Sherries.
Many of us found it hard to pick a preferred wine so we agreed to settle on both! Very different wines & styles of course with Alianca being a northern, Bairrada wine and the Callabriga hailing from the southern Alentejo.
 Finally, our dessert was Passion Fruit Mousse, Passion Fruit Sorbet, Caramelized Pineapples - and just when I was expecting Pudim Flam! The wine was of course the amazing Setubal speciality, Moscatel. In all honesty the wine, whilst excellent was perhaps a little overpowering for the dessert, which itself was stunning and stunningly presented.
Robert Joseph provided an honest summation of Portugal, particularly in respect of its place in the UK wine market place of today - both on- and off-trades. A number of restaurateurs and wholesalers were present and the discussion over lunch centred on the difficulty that exists in getting Portuguese wines on the wine lists and then getting consumers to try them. Well, that's a job that you can help them, and me, with greatly - and at the same time most probably get yourself an enjoyable bottle of excellent food wine at superb value.
 Later the same week, I travelled to Cardiff - landing there in heavy rain and runway level cloud by the way; a far cry from my warm, sunny island paradise - to present a programme of tastings at the Cardiff International Arena. This event was, as previously, one of the busiest shows of the year from our national programme, with us presenting to more than 600 people over the two days. The range of Portuguese wines received a very enthusiastic response from the Welsh public and you will find below a list of the wines along with their stockists and importers so that you can perhaps find and try the wines for yourselves.
No visit to Cardiff is complete without an evening at the ambient, atmospheric Portos Restaurante Portuges in St Mary Street. So the team spent Saturday evening there enjoying typical Portuguese cuisine - from sardinhas to caldeirada, washed down with an excellent white (branco) Bical, from Bela Fonte (the sister wine to the Jaen) and a Bairrada Tinto Garrafeira; all served by the friendly team of waiters. If you are in Cardiff then do go and try Porto's and I am also told that the `Madeira' restaurant there is  good (next time). I also found time for a visit to Nando's (Cardiff has 2 branches) with its authentic Chicken Piri-Piri and an excellent range of Portuguese wines and beers. Good value was a glass of the Segada Tinto, which as it happened we were showing that weekend.
In November we do have a couple of dedicated Portuguese consumer events at which you would be very welcome indeed. For those of you in the Northampton area, there is a tutored tasting of a range of no less than 8 Port wines and styles on Thursday 9th November. The following week we are hosting a Portuguese Wine Dinner in Norwich; that's on Thursday 16th November. If you are interested in attending either event please email us at wineeducators@aol.com and we'll get back to you with the full details. Hope to see you there! For those of you who are not there, well we'll just tell you all about it next month.
Martin Ward
Wine Educators International
www.wine-educators.com
THE WINES OF PORTUGAL
Presented by Wine Educators International
Ideal Home Show - Cardiff International Arena
30th September/1st October 2006
Presenter - Martin Ward
Each session will feature 4 top Portuguese wines from the following list:
A. Alvarinho Muros Antigos Branco 2004; Vinho Verde
B. Calcos do Tanha Rosado 2005; Douro - Atlantico
C. Segada Tinto 2004; Ribatejo
D. Ramada Tinto 2004; Estremadura
E. Bela Fonte Jaen Tinto 2000; Beiras
F. Dom Ferraz Tinto 2000; Dao - D&F Shippers Ltd
G. Duque de Viseu 2000; Dao (retail - Majestic & Waitrose)
H. The Cork Grove Fernao Pires 2003; Ribatejano (retail - Waitrose)
I. Marques de Borba Branco 2004; Alentejo (retail - Tanners)
J. Moscatel de Setubal 2002, Caves Velhas - Portugalia Wines
K. Quinta de la Rosa `Tonel 12' 10 year old Tawny - Morris & Verdin
L. Courela Tinto 2004; Alentejo - Adnams
If you would like to know more about Portuguese Food and Drink, why don't you dip into our Restaurants in the Algarve section and our series of articles on Portuguese Wines and Ports. We also feature some Traditional Portuguese Recipes and a glossary of useful Portuguese food & drink words and phrases
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