Ok so I'm back and report on the wine/Port highlights of my family trip.
First off sorry Francisco, I didn't see your post untill now or I would have certainly exchanged a few emails with you, fica para a próxima vez.
We pretty much accomplished everything we planned.
Sintra, Obidos (both have wine and port shops with very rare and unusual bottles that you might not find so easily elsewhere) but comparing the price onmore common bottles with other places in portugal there is certainly a "tourist premium" on the prices in those two cities. But if there is a rare one you are looking for, might be possible in those to places.
Spent 2 nights and 3 days in the Algarve. What's to say, if your there it is for the beach.
In Gaia, visisted Wiese & Krohn and tasting. I enjoy this one very much it was my first time. Discovered that they have some super super old wine still in barell. Small quantities so it might be just for the owners to enjoy or some very limited future bottlings.
Stopped at the Sogevinus and purchased an 1967 Kopke colheita my first 67 off my special list (
http://www.fortheloveofport.com/ftlopfo ... 967#p47188). Only 40 to go. I did see a few others from this list on this trip so I'm encouraged but my budget for this project will have to be increased.
Went to Graham's but didn't do the visit or tasting. They have really changed the place since last time I went there. And perhaps we chose the wrong street to get there (we walked up Rua Rei Ramiro) but by the time we arrived at the entrance of the lovely hall where the tours start, all of us had nothing left in our legs. The path is all around the restuarant and shop and who knows what else (this part alone is about 800 meters of walking from the gate to the hall entrance). Huge dissapointment. The right way to get to grahams is by car and to park in their facility I think were you apprach the hall from the back so much less walking around buildings. Walking it from the douro shore is not recommended as you will not have any energy left. So instead I went to the shop. The staff had no Port competence, they are just cashiers to collect payment. So I picked out a precious numbered Warre 2009 VP and paid. Initially the cashier made a mistake and was going to charge me a LBV 2009 and was trying hard to force fit the bottle in the incorrect wooden box but it just would not fit no matter how har he pushed. I then told him it wasn't expensive enough... that I was buying a VP not an LBV and would also prefer to have the correct Warre box for this numbered bottle and for a bottle of this price. So after some scrambling while I'm waiting, the correct price was charged and the box was found but it took 2 cashiers.
I had a very different experience 6 years ago at Grahams where a super knowledgeable senior employee (still have his card in my files) handled my free tasting (no longer free now) and even had me try something not on the standard tasting (VP 80 which I ended buying among other things since it was so good). He went further... helped me get a table at Chez Lapin using his contacts for the same evening. Well, the place looks great at least. Even if the customer experience is different. I'll probably give Grahams another try in the future as I love and own so many of their products.
We didn't sleep in Porto, instead we drove off to the douro valley. We stayed at the lovely Quinta Da Pacheca for two nights. Nice rooms, nice restaurant, visist and facility. Staff was very nice. It was very hot those days so certainly a pool would have been enjoyed at the end of our daily routes in the valley but that is still in the plans for the future at Pacheca. We also booked a short boat ride on the douro. It was 1 hrs duration which translates to starting in Regua and the boat turning around in front of Quinta da Romaneira. This was also somewhat dissapointing as this short stretch of douro didn't have much too see and the captain didn't say a word for 1hr. We tasted all the Pacheca products and a purchased some of their wines, ports, olive oil and jams.
In our day to day, we enjoyed such good food, fish, cheese and local products purchased in tradional markets or in grocery stores. In particular lots of great wines in the 5 to 8 euro range, Kopke Douro red and Fita Preta come to mind. I also opened a very old (2000 or there abouts) Quinta das Heredias red purchased 6 years ago at the quinta when we slepted there, that I had left behind in portugal and it was just phenomenal. Which confirms that Douro red are built to last and good ones should be opened after 10 years or more.
Finally I would say , that sadly most restaurants we eat at still don't pay much attention to the wine list (how it is presented), the temperature of the wine and the service of the wine. Perhaps that means that if they did, there is some upsell and growth potential there in the local market.
overall great vacation and will look forward to returning. Hopefully with less gap in time between visists.
cheers
Paul
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