Wine Fictions

I have to confess that whenever I open a bottle of wine I like to start searching something more it so that I can enrich the first research  I have done before buying it. Where does it come from, who has made it, why have they made it, is there something special or witty about the name, who has done it and the history behind it are some of the questions that I feed and expect to have answered. One of my main expectations when I open a wine is that it can offer me the possibility to travel to different places by offering me a unique combination of tastes that can reflect not only the soil, but also the sun or the hands that have worked it. The expectations and goals of its producers and enologues. The conflicts and emotions behind it. In other words, I am expecting a similar feeling as to the one books can offer. And that is the reason why I think that both match each other so well. Besides the gastronomic suggestion, I always try to add the wine that can reflect the feeling of what...

There are wines which end up becoming iconic either due to their quality, for the role they have played in a certain moment in history or for their successful marketing as it has happened with Casal Garcia or Monte Velho in the Portuguese case. These wine end up being part of the collective imaginary that can always be talked about whenever you meet fellow citizens. But there are also some other wines that you come across in a rather fortuitous way and that grow into your personal history to an extent which can be equivalent to the social phenomenon of the above mentioned.  These wines often grow inside you and you end up following their evolution throughout the years  as well as a growing curiosity for the other wines produced by the same company or enologue. This is exactly what has happened with the Lua Cheia wines. About seven years ago I have organized a wine tasting where the Lua Cheia em Vinhas Velhas ended up being the star of the evening, surprising everyone present d...

 Living in Germany has opened me to dimensions of the wine market that I have never thought of in Portugal. First of all the sort of social connotation of wine: even though its consumption has been becoming a bit more generalized in the last years, it is still seen as something which is either local (people form the Mosel or Rheinessen mainly) or as it happens here in the north where I am living, as something rather elitist. I was often told that there is a difference between the ones who drink beer and the ones who drink wine. I find this division rather ridiculous, but I'll never forget a friend of mine who once told me: In Portugal I was astonished to see university students getting drunk on wine!!! I think the following graph shows quite clearly the relation of Portuguese with wine: Portuguese wines can be really cheap in Portugal, specially when compared to other countries. This is due to the different taxes applied for Portuguese wines (13%) and foreign wines (23%).  Bei...

 As I have started reading A Propos of Nothing the autobiographical work by Woody Allen I started thinking which wine could I have in order to perfectly accompany the reading. I know that this may sound too extreme, but for me it is somehow impossible to separate the pleasure of a good read from all the pleasures you can have around: cozy light, the right room temperature, comfortable position and a wine that may reflect the content of what I am reading. Being perfectly aware of how much of an obvious choice this wine may have been (American author = American wine) , I have given a but more thought to it than it may seem. Just like an old vine, going back to Woody Allen is a mix of a look into the past (in my case a very personal one) but also a safe choice of knowing that this is something special which reflects almost in perfection the specificity of a place. And that is what happens with Woody Allen. Even though he has in the last years made films in different European cities h...

 "This is one of those wines that make me smile without noticing it" - This was the comment of a friend of mine who came by for a balchão the other day and got this Quinta da Alorna to accompany it. Once I have had very good experiences with prickly mineral wines such as Riesling or Vinhos Verde pairing with Indian gastronomy, I have decided to see how would the grape Alvarinho would behave when coming from a completely different kind of soil and atmospheric context. Along with it Viognier which would balance the citrus taste with a sweeter one. In fact, the first thing that has called my attention in this wine was its softness and balance, being pretty smooth in the mouth. Its texture was very seductive and it gave a velvety feeling that has enrolled the balchão perfectly. In fact it was rather surprising to see the alcohol percentage it has as nothing in its taste denounces the 13,5. I even risk to say that this was a perfect match in an afternoon dedicated to celebrate fr...