The Event: Viniportugal City Dinner tasting tour for the Wines of Portugal, Feb 4, 2009

The Time and Date: Wednesday, February 4, 2009   6:30 PM to 9 PM

The Event: Viniportugal City Dinner tasting tour for the Wines of Portugal

The Venue: Oasi Restaurant

The Target Audience: sommeliers, wine writers, agents.

The Availability/Catalogue: wines are available in this marketplace.

The Quote/Background: Portuguese winemaker Diago Campilho from Quinta da Lagoalva de Cima gave an educational tasting seminar featuring some wines, with a gourmet dinner and more wines to match. Ten wines in all were tasted.

The Wines: all prices are retail.

 

**** Four Stars (91+ in Quality/Price Rating terms):

-CARM Grand Reserva 2005 Douro, FWP Trading, $46.

-Bacalhoa Catarina Fernao Pires 2006, FWP Trading, $14.80

-Quinta dos Roques Touriga Nacional 2005, RKW Wine Imports, $33.

-Esperao Reserva 2005, FWP Trading, $24.95

 

***1/2 Three and a Half Stars (88 – 90 in Quality/Price Rating terms):

-Henriques Bual 10 Year Madeira, Cavima, $39.

-Quinta da Cortezia Touriga Nacional 2005, Trilogy, $18.65

-Alianca Quinta dos Quatro Ventos Reserva 2002, PMA Canada, $24.95

 

*** Three Stars (85 – 87 in Quality/Price Rating terms):

-Borlidos Brut Reserve NV, FWP Trading, $15

-Quinta de Lagoalva Talhao #1, FWP Trading, $17.60

-Quinta da Lagoalva Reserva 2006, FWP Trading, $18

 

The Food: we had appetizers in the bar after the tasting, with various wines from the tasting. At dinner, first course was a foie gras torchon with duck prosciutto (Borlidos Reserva Bruto), followed by yellowfin tuna tataki and lily bulb with salsify (Quinta Da Lagoalva Talhao #1 2007), roast lamb saddle with mushrooms and cannelinni beans (CARM Douro Grande Reserva 2005), and sticky date pudding (Henriques Bual Madeira 10 year old).

The Downside: the presentation, which began late, was too full of tourism stuff before we actually got to the wines. It was past seven o'clock when we got around to sipping. My writer colleague sitting across from me had tasted and written notes on all of the wines before the tasting even began.

The Upside: the audience didn't seem to want to talk much about the wines, and this carried over to the dinner wines. Everything matched up fairly well. And the food was gorgeous.

The Contact Person: william.delgado@portugalglobal.pt

The Marketing Effectiveness (numerical grade): 83.

 

 

Chimo!  www.deantudor.com