Naked Wines is an online wine market, supporting independent wine makers from around the world. Their new Portuguese arrival is Oscar’s 2008 from Quevado in the Douro Valley.

Throughout the summer ViniPortugal will be at numerous consumer shows all over the country, so make sure you visit our stand, all you need to do is subscribe to the newsletter, print off a copy and bring it with you to claim your free goodie bag and enjoy a fantastic selection of Portuguese wines.

Dates for your diary:

CLA Game- 23rd-25th July

Here we are at the Cheshire County Show on 22nd-23rd June:

The far North West of the country next to Spain, it is relatively cool and moist with high mountains away from the coast. It is a stunning area with waterfalls, wooded valleys, meadows and craggy upland moors. Recent replanting and restructuring of grapes has lead to a huge improvement in the quality of its famous Vinho Verde wines.

Vinho Verde is a distinctive Portuguese wine style that is light and crisp with a low alcohol percentage, it shares the common denominator of needing to be drunk young, preferably within a year or two of release.

Why don’t you try Quinta da Aveleda or Casa Garcia Rosé which are fantastic wines from the Minho region.

Booths Supermarkets has a fantastic money saving promotion on their Casal Mendes Vinho Verde and Rosé wine, grab a bottle for just £3.99 throughout July and August*!

Click here to find your nearest Booths supermarket. *Offer starts from 28th July and ends on 21st August

We interviewed Manuel Vieira from Sogrape Vinhos S.A. to find out what it’s like to be a wine maker in the Vinho Verde…

Which is your favourite wine that you make in Vinho Verde region?

I would have to say Quinta de Azevedo 2009, for the great company it can be served on its own or paired with food! This wine is available from Waitrose, see what the ebullient Oz Clarke has to say about this wine below:

3 words to describe this favorite wine?

Fresh, aromatic and deliciously acid!

What international food would you match with it?

Quinta de Azevedo is ideal with grilled fish and seafood, personally I love it with oysters in rice wine and ginger vinaigrette.

What do you do when you’re not making wine?

I love reading and spending time with my family, enjoying every minute until my son and daughter are old enough to get married!

Guess the missing word and the first 10 correct answers will win a ViniPortugal goodie bag.

Vinho Verde is a Portuguese wine that is _ _ _ _ _ and crisp.

All you need to do is leave your answer in the ‘leave a reply’ box.

Paul Quinn is this month’s t-shirt competition winner; he wore his Wines of Portugal t-shirt when competing in the Bendrigg Lodge 10K run at Kendal, 6 bottles of Portuguese wines will be on their way to you!

If you would like to take part in next month’s T-shirt competition, contact Sarah at viniportugal@jkmarketing.co.uk to request a Wines of Portugal T-shirt, and then take a picture wearing it in the most unusual place you can think of!

The winner will receive 6 bottles of Portuguese wine and will be announced at the end of each month, the winning picture will also feature in the following monthly newsletter.

This fantastic combination is a full bottle of Moscatel de Setubal together with 12 little chocolate cups. Simply pour the wine into the cups, drink and savor the wine and then eat the cup! Sheer indulgence and a lovely gift to anyone (including yourself!)

Even after you have eaten all the cups you will still have enough delicious Moscatel to keep in the fridge for other opportunities to indulge in this sumptuous treat of a wine.

Click here to order yours now from Paul at Portovino

At the final ‘50 Great’ tasting of 2010 in Edinburgh, Sarah Ahmed officially handed over the ‘ViniPortugal Journalist of the Year’ baton to Tom Cannavan, wine writer and broadcaster.

As winner of the title for 2010, Tom has the task of choosing his own ‘50 Great Portuguese Wines’, and has several fact-finding tastings and visits lined up over the next few months.

Tom writes for his online wine magazine ‘Wine-Pages’: over the years ‘Wine-Pages’ has evolved into one of the world’s biggest and most visited sites on the subject of wine, attracting 400,000 unique visitors per month. Tom also writes for publications including Decanter, World of Fine Wine, Harpers Wine & Spirit and Off Licence News.

In the past the Portuguese Journalist of the Year has been given to Richard Mayson, Tim Atkin, Charles Metcalfe, Simon Woods and most recently in 2009 to, Sarah Ahmed ‘The Wine Detective’.

Once Tom has chosen his 50 great Portuguese Wines they will be available to taste at events in 2011, more information can be found at www.jkmarketing.co.uk

Journalist Tom Cannavan present a weekly wine slot on Scottish Television, last week he covered Portuguese wines.

The programme is available to watch on the STV website, click here to see it!!

Wine enthusiasts from Stratford Grape Club recently enjoyed their first visit to the Vinho Verde region. Visits were planned with the help of Bruno Almeida of the Rota dos Vinho Verdes Office in Porto.

The idyllic setting of Quinta da Aveleda was first stop. After a saunter through the fantastic gardens, the ‘serious matter’ of tasting began. Winemaker Manuel Soares led us through a range of wines from Aveleda’s wide portfolio. The Follies Alvarinho showed particularly well with its complex floral aromas and long citrus finish on the palate.

At Quinta de Simaens (part of the Borges group) we enjoyed a vineyard tour with their viticulturist who explained that they were the first in Portugal to use a new system of vine training developed in this region called ‘lys’. Riper grapes apparently develop from this system.

Onto the group’s modern production centre at Lixa for a tasting and lunch hosted by Ricardo Campos, Sales Manager. The Quinta de Lixa Loureira was fragrant, had good acidity, and plenty of citrus on the palate. The Quinta de Simaens, a blend of Paderna, Avessa and Trajadura, showed complexity of fruit and at 13.5% makes a serious food wine.

Quinta Lourosa was final visit of the day. This family estate is developing wine tourism and its lovely setting and buildings show why. Joanna de Castro, daughter and winemaker hosted us. In addition to their still wines, three Vinho Verde Espumantes are produced by the traditional method. We tasted the Brut Rosé, a blend of Syrah and Jaen plus other non-specified varieties. It had floral notes, a creamy mousse with good structure and fruit, sufficient to be enjoyed with some lightly spiced food as well as an aperitif.

So a brilliant day and a happy group returned to Porto in the late evening sunshine, now fully familiar with the region’s grape varieties and keen to source wines from this delightful region in the UK. Our thanks to organisers and producers for their generous hospitality.

Hazel Tattersall
21 June 2010