Food & Drink in the Algarve, Portugal

what to drink during your stay in the Algarve

Wines of Portugal - the vineyards around Lisboa

Bom Dia

Welcome to the wine article for October.

This month's letter in the Portuguese wine alphabet is `L is for Lisboa', or to be exact Lisbon's vineyards which sadly have become in recent times rarer and rarer all in the name of `progress and development'.

There are very few capital cities that can boast the inclusion of genuine vineyards in or close to the city suburbs. Some may disagree but it is generally recognised that today, only Vienna actually has them in its centre and suburbs.

Not too long ago though Lisbon included successful plots right in its heart; amongst what is now the suburbs were any number of vines. Sadly today this land and sites have been replaced with buildings, both residential and commercial, forming some of the city's less than salubrious areas, notably around the airport area. This of course is the downside of having an airport so very close to the city centre.

As the years pass and the city's rapid success and therefore development continues, the rising need for more land means that a commercial vineyard becomes an impractical and uneconomical concept.

But, as is still possible to find the wines from the most significant of the `city' areas and also as these particular wines are the most distinctive and often the most qualitative of all of Portugal (with apologies to my many friends in Porto and the Douro), it is definitely worth writing about them and getting you to discover them. Well worth the effort!

So the names to seek out are 1) Colares, 2) Bucelas and 3) Carcavelos, with this numerical sequence not being a guide to pride of place or the most superior in quality!

Firstly though alphabetically - Bucelas (or sometimes Bucellas). Still today a village in appearance, if somewhat swollen and scruffy, close to the mighty Riba Tejo (Tagus River), Bucelas is famous for its wine of course, as well as both sugar and chickens. Again in no particular order and please don't ask me why these latter two are so important here! This is just 15 miles north of Lisbon; a warm and windy area with clay soils.

The history of the local wine is immense. Believed to have been mentioned by Shakespeare and consumed by the Duke of Wellington's garrison, it has claimed fame in Britain back to those times.

Bucelas wines are predominantly white, with the main grape variety, by some distance, being one I have mentioned previously - the Arinto. In line with my fascination for both the indigenousness of Portuguese grape varieties and particularly their wonderful names, I must tell you that two other grapes allowed in the DOC blend, alongside Cerceal (Madeira's Sercial) are the Esgana Cao and the Rabo do Ovelha. Lovely names, but when translated the two become respectively, the dog strangler and the ewe's tail!

This blend allows for wines which can be both crisp and fresh when young but also age incredibly well - long a local habit and style.

For no particular reason, I am just going to pick out 1 local producer, whose wines I have used in the past, notable too for their aged Moscatel, to watch out for - the Caves Velhas.

Carcavelos, which you pass through on the lovely and incredibly inexpensive Estoril coastal train journey from Lisbon' Cais de Sodre station to Cascais, is probably the suburb and therefore vineyard area to have respectively developed and suffered the most over the past few decades, winemakers losing out to Estoril estate agents.

Once the country seat of Portugal's and Port's very famous personage, the Marquis de Pombal (more about him another time), the remaining wines of Carcavelos, produced from a gamut of indigenous species and often with great style and ageing capacity will reward you if and when found and drunk. So when you are driving the Estoril coast, or more sensibly taking the train, to visit the local historical sites and the beaches, do drink a bottle or two with your dinners.

To prove that the last, but of course not least, of our trio of vanishing vineyards, was and still can be superb, I still recall a few years ago tasting a bottle of 1970 Colares wine from the famous producer there, Antonio Bernardino Paulo da Silva - a wine that was despite its already considerable age still as big as the producer's name!

Perhaps, today, it is the prettiest of the threesome to visit; honesty does not permit me to use that epithet for the other two today. However, it is definitely the most unique and dramatic in terms of what you saw and just about still can in the vineyards. Firstly the grape, again almost inevitably indigenous and unique, is the Ramisco with its intense blue colour and small bunches. Never grafted, due to it growing in sand which does not support the threat of phylloxera, the vines are planted close to the cliff tops above and on the very beaches of the Atlantic ocean. Also both the vine itself, as well as the resulting wines, seem to have almost infinite longevity. Not only are the vines, fairly unusually, planted in the medium of sand, but also, perhaps similar to the volcanic, black sight of Lanzarote's vineyards, the plant is sunk in a pit or trough to protect it from erosion and especially the Atlantic winds.

Just a day too late for this month I am going to be in Birmingham for a very special Portuguese tasting, seminar and lunch at a city centre restaurant. All in the name of work and research of course! So I will write up the event for you for next month's newsletter. This will also include some stories and feedback from our Portuguese tastings over next weekend in Cardiff.

Watch out too for a look at another region or area, yet to be decided upon.

Please email me as ever with your questions (wineeducators@aol.com), and also to enquire about any of our many events nationwide. I look forward to hearing from you, particularly if you encounter or can recall any of the extremely individual wines above; until then, good (Portuguese) drinking.

Martin Ward              Wine Educators International

www.wine-educators.com

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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