Wine from Portugal wants you to taste the passion from the Dão this September, and are offering you a mixed case of 6 wines for just £34.99.

The 6 wines include:
Casa de Santar Branco Dão Doc 2009 from Dão Sul
Quinta da Falorca Tinto Dão DOC 2006
Quinta de São Simão da Aguieira Tinto Dão DOC 2005 from Borges
Duque de Viseu Branco Dão DOC2009 from Quinta dos Carvalhais
Quinta da Garrida Reserva Dão DOC 2008 from Aliança
Porta dos Cavaleiros Tinto Dão DOC 2007 from Caves São Joao

For further information click here

Duas Pedras from Quinta do Centro has just launched in the UK. The 2009 vintage is an exclusive for the Wine Society and is a blend of Touriga Nacional and Syrah with a touch of Viognier (‘the salt in the cooking’) from vines that Richard Mayson planted in 2006, a year after buying Quinta do Centro.

Duas Pedras complements Pedra Basta which was launched in 2007 and will be followed by the super-permium red, Pedra e Alma 2009 in the autumn.

Join Tanners for a 2009 Douro DOC & Port Tasting in October – Most of the wines, along with a few surprises, will be presented by representatives of the properties including Paul Symington (Warre, Vesuvio, Roriz and Chryseia) and Sandra Tavares (Pintas, Passadouro and Quinta Vale Dona Maria).

Over 40 of Portugal’s finest wines for just £15 per ticket.

Date: Thursday 13th October 2011
Location: Tanners Wyle Cop Cellars Shop, Shrewsbury

They anticipate that tickets will sell quickly, so please call soon on 01743 234 455 to avoid disappointment.

Portovino are sponsoring The Jesmond Dene Real Tennis Club Doubles Tournament on 23rd, 24th, and 25th September 2011. Members of the public are very welcome to head along and watch the games, you may even be encouraged to take up a game or two!

There will be a dinner on Saturday night which will feature Portovino Wines and the company will also be presenting some of their fine wines to the lucky winners.

Real Tennis is one of the worlds oldest racquet sports and is still played in over 30 clubs in the UK. The court at Jesmond Dene was founded in 1894 and the Invitation Doubles tournament attracts players from many UK clubs. A weekend of doubles matches is played with teams with one local played paired with a visitor.

Jesmond Dene Real Tennis Club, Mathew Bank, Newcastle Upon Tyne. Tel: 01912 816 894.

Picture of Joao Brito e Cunha with the ViniPortugal and Naked Wines archangels in the Douro

Naked Wines is currently promoting some new Portuguese wines on their MarketPlace platform, from oenologist Joao Brito e Cunha.

By the time you read this story, hopefully Naked Wines will have sold all of João’s cases and João will have raised some of the capital to realise his dream.

Joao Brito e Cunha says

“I am so excited to be here on Naked Wines, I hear so much about the Naked Wines family from my dear friend Mario Negreiro. Please let me introduce myself, my name is João Brito e Cunha and I am a consultant/producer winemaker from the Douro Valley, Portugal.

For some years now I have been planning to build my own winery. Rowan has told me that the Market place is the perfect place to raise some capital for this. The Douro Valley is a very complex and expensive wine region, we have so many different variables, with sun exposition, altitude, age of the vines, soil and many rich grape varieties. Building my own winery will allow me to improve many small details that will make a big difference to the final result. As a big thank-you for your help, I’m offering you a case of some really special wines at a big discount.

Please let me know any questions about my wines. And when my new winery is built, maybe you can come to visit me! Cheers!”

This campaign follows Carmen Steven’s campaign, a South African producer, where Naked Wines customers pre-ordered £120K worth of wine in one afternoon.

If you missed Olly Smith waxing lyrical about Tinto da Anfora on Saturday Morning Kitchen, then here’s the clip for you to watch again – leave a comment and let us know what you think

Wines of Portugal will be at The Three Wine Men (London & Manchester), The Wine Show (London), and The Wine Gang (London) tastings this year, so make sure you save the dates in your diary and pop along to taste a world of difference from our amazing wine producing country.

More details will follow, but for now, here are the dates for your diary…

The Three Wine Men

London 24th – 26th September 2011 – Lord’s Cricket Ground
Manchester 1st – 2nd October 2011 – Manchester Science Museum
London 3rd – 4th December – Lord’s Cricket Ground

This exciting new consumer event is hosted by Oz Clarke, Olly Smith and Tim Atkin, a trio of the UK’s liveliest and most entertaining wine personalities. The event will be packed full of exciting wines from all over the world – and keep an eye out for ‘pop up tastings’ which will be taking place throughout the day.

For more information visit www.threewinemen.co.uk or to book tickets for The Three Wine Men click here.

The Wine Gang

London 29th October – Vinopolis

The Wine Gang is made up of five of the UK’s most respected wine critics; Tom Cannavan of wine-pages.com, Jane Parkinson of The Drinks Business, Anthony Rose of The Independent, Joanna Simon of House & Garden and David Williams of The Observer and World of Fine Wine.

To book tickets for The Wine Gang click here.

The Wine Show

London 11th – 13th November – Olympia

It’s a great experience and will be jam-packed with the country’s leading wine experts, the world’s wine producers, unusual regions and varieties to discover… all in all, a great day out. Book your tickets today.

To book tickets for The Wine Show click here.

Enjoy a glass of Portuguese wines at nine of London’s most popular restaurants.

We are working in partnership with the D&D restaurant group and the Evening Standard so you can enjoy a very special menu that includes a glass of Vinho Verde or Nova Safra, Pinhal da Torre for just £15 (two courses), or £20 (three courses).

You can enjoy this very special offer in the following restaurants:

Almeida – Islington
Avenue – St James
Blue Print Café – Shad Thames
Kensington Place – Kensington
Le Pont de La Tour – Shad Thames
Plateau – Canary Wharf
Quaglinos – Mayfair
Royal Exchange – Bank
Skylon – South Bank

This promotion runs until Sunday 11th September 2011.

Jane MacQuitty, The Times Wine Critic, has just unveiled her ‘50 Best Wines for Summer‘. Congratulations to Tesco for getting two wines by Falua into the lineup, their finest Vinho Verde and their finest Douro red.

2010 Finest Vinho Verde, Falua Sociedade de Vinhos, Portugal – £7.29
“This authentic, dry, tongue-tingling Vinho Verde makes a glorious summer white, as happy with grilled sardines on the beach as it is with curried chicken or poached salmon on a smart buffet table. The kiwi wine wizard Sam Harrop, is one of the reasons why this joyous, restrained 11.5% alcohol offering is so good. Harrop’s brief at the Falua co-operative was to make richer, fruiter, more complex Vinho Verde. Anyone tucking in to this crisp, light, lively, lemon-sherbet dab, loureiro grape-based Vinho Verde, topped up with trajadura, will agree.”

Click here to buy 2010 Finest Vinho Verde.

2008 Finest Douro Red, Falua Sociedade de Vinhos, Portugal – £7.29
“Portugal’s Douro valley, home to port, has always made great red wines, but it has taken time for the word to get out. Bravo Tesco for creating this classy Touriga Francesca-based red topped up with Touriga nacional and tinta roriz, the trio of grapes responsible for port, made the Falua winery north of Lisbon. The result, a glorious, rich, blackberry and chocolate-laced red.”

Click here to buy 2008 Finest Douro Red.

Pop down to your local Tesco, or buy bottles online via the links above.

Rio Real 2009 is a dark, fruity and rich wine, everything a good Douro red should be – it has been created thanks to the Naked Angel funding and is now available to buy online from Naked Wines.

Rio Real 2009 is a blend of Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca and Tinta Roriz grapes, and last May won a Silver medal at the International Wine Challenge.

It is the first Douro wine from Parras and thanks to the Naked Angel funding it allowed producers to rent a vineyard and a few tanks in a small winery in the Douro valley.

In the UK, all of their wines are exclusive at NakedWines.com.