Portugal- Lisbon and Madeira; Wine Heaven; Part 1

Introduction to Portugal

We went to Portugal two weeks ago and had a great time. We spent 4 nights in Lisboa (why do we change the spelling of foreign places; Lisbon i.e.)and 3 nights in Funchal, Madeira. Madeira is an island that is part of Portugal. It is in the Atlantic south of Portugal, even with Morocco. Portugal is easy to get to from New Jersey. Prices in the country are very reasonable. While we did not see extreme poverty the country is not as affluent as other western European countries.

Portugal is a small country with 10,000,000 people. Imagine New Jersey with its own language , history and culture. The country has had a large impact on the world as its explorers went all over. Brazil is now  the largest Portuguese speaking country in the world.

The wines of Portugal were a revelation. Wines were uniformly excellent and the prices were crazy low. We found good wines for $5 in stores and $10 in restaurants. Information on Portuguese wines is scarce and apparently many of their wines are not exported. Most of their wines are blends of grapes ( 3 or 4) that are unfamiliar. White wines are very good; they were dry with enough fruit to keep things interesting. The red wines were good and they make some great red wines. However the availability of very good and reasonably priced white wines makes Portuguese wine special as I find that it is generally easier to find a good cheap red than white.

The main wine making areas are the Douro, Dao, Alentejo and Lisboa. The Douro is the oldest wine region. It is in northern Portugal.They also make Port from the Douro. Madeira, a fortified wine like Sherry comes from the island of Madeira. The Portuguese are very proud of their wine and most stores and restaurants only have Portuguese wines. The following are some of the wines we drank or saw in stores.

BTW the WS current edition is all about Portugal. However I don't believe that they captured the true spirit of Lisboa as they seemed to concentrate on fancy restaurants.

$15 in restaurant

 Great wine. $22 in store. Not sure I can find it in the US.

Wines to dream about.

 Crasto make some of the finest wines in Portugal.

 A great Madeira.

Some Port at 4 euros a glass.

 A very nice white wine by a top producer. $5 in stores. The WS just gave this a 89.

A really good  red wine by a top winemaker Alvaro Castro.

Lisboa (Lisbon)
Day 1 We flew from Newark to Lisbon via Heathrow. Our flight to London was delayed for 2 hours due to a "catering" delay. Can't make it up. We made our connecting flight to Lisboa by 2 minutes, literally. The flights were OK but United now advertises free food on international flights. The food was pathetic. Bring your own food. You are forewarned. Look at the "barbecued chicken". United should be ashamed.

 We took a cab to our hotel. It was 20 euros. On our return to the airport we realized we had been overcharged. The true cost was about 14 Euros. We stayed at the Bairro Alto Hotel bairroaltohotel.com in the Bairro Alto section of Lisboa. We booked through TripAdvisor for about $250  per night including breakfast and taxes.

They had our reservation and took us to our room. The hotel was great. An older building that has been remodeled. The staff was very helpful and friendly. Our room was on the top floor basically in the attic. We had 2 small window looking out on the square outside. The bathroom was very modern and nicely set out. They gave us free bottled water and a small fridge. The coolest part of our room was that it was 1 floor up to their rooftop bar. The bar had beautiful views of Lisboa and the food was good and reasonable.
The hotel.

 Praca Luis de Camoes. He was a poet.

The food at the hotel's rooftop bar. Caesar Salad.

The view  from the rooftop bar.

Breakfast at the hotel.

We bought 24 hour passes for the mass transit in the city from the hotel and went out. We were very hungry so we went to a new market that houses a number of food stores. Mercado de Campo de Ourique.  We took a taxi there as the trolley was packed. Cabs are relatively cheap in Lisboa as is just about everything.

Lisboa is a really nice city. Prices are very low, things work pretty well and the city has lots of interesting neighborhoods that are quite old. There are lots of hills in Lisboa but there are ways to keep the exertion to a minimum. There are trolleys and there are Elevadors/ funiculars on all steep hills. The 28E trolley is the main tourist trolley though is used by everyone. It takes you to all the basic neighborhoods.

Elevador da Gloria. Notice the graffiti. It is everywhere in Lisboa.

 A steep hill. The Elevador makes lots of sense.

28E Trolley

Anyone remember Lancers Rose. They make a sparkling wine. 2 euros a glass at the market. 

 A food stall at the market. There were tables in the middle to eat.

 Great meats at this stall.

 This platter of lamb chops was 10 euros. We had 6 lamb chops, thin but tasty.

 Glasses of wine at the market were very reasonable; 5 Euros was the good stuff. We also had shrimp with rice. The shrimp were small but firm and with that real shrimp taste. We took the trolley back and got off in another neighborhood.

To be continued.

Recent Wine Purchases

Recent Wine Purchases

Needed some cellar defenders for the summer so I did a Wine Library winelibrary.com visit. I don't think that I have mentioned that the WL did a fashion show a few weeks ago. Sandra modeled and MC'ed. Everything was tasteful and well done. It was a hoot.

Anyway I bought the  following wines. I have tried to explain why I bought them and I think they will make for some great summer drinking:

Adelsheim 2012 Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley Oregon; $19.19, a reasonably priced and very good Oregon PN

Marques De Gelida Xarello 2012, $9.98, Spain, Light, delicate white wine from the area in Spain where they make Cava, uses a Cava grape. Dry but has good fruit.

Jaume Serra Cristalino Cava, Spain, $7.34, Can't beat it for the price, light, refreshing, good with all kinds of food, low alcohol.

Michele Chiarlo Barbera d' Asti 2011 $10.49, Rustic red, earthy, good flavor, great with Italian food.

Di Majo Norante Sangiovese IGT 2013 Dependable red made from the grape of Chianti, medium bodied, fruity but not grapey.

Domaine de la Madone Beaujolais La Perreon, France2014 $11.74 a classic Beaujolais with that Gamay fruit flavor, good acidity, light but flavorful. 2014 looks like a good year in Beaujolais, avoid 2012 and 2013.

Produttori Del Barbaresco Barbaresco 2010, Italy $24.75, 2010 was a very good year in Piedmont. This wine is a very approachable Nebbiolo at a reasonable price for a Nebbiolo, terroir and fruit, not flashy but will improve as you drink the bottle.

Lopez De Haro Rioja Crianza 2010 Spain $9.99 I have not had the 2010 but the 2008 was a great value. Light but full of flavor with great balance. A crowd pleaser.

Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc 2014 New Zealand, $13.33; They make alot of this wine but the 2014 is more delicate and balanced than some other vintages. NZ Sauvignon Blancs are fruity but this wine has good acid to balance and is more refined than most, closer to a Loire Valley SB.

Manoir Firetiere Muscadet de Sevre et Maine Vieille Vignes (old vines), France $11.98 I have not tasted this wine yet but Muscadet are value wines that can be very good, old vine wines can be very good, a seafood wine that is light with good acid. Worth a try.

Nervi Erbaluce Di Caluso, Italy, $15.99, An obscure white wine from Piedmont that I tried at the WL when the owner of the winery visited, good white wine from a grape I have never heard of, fruit and acid balanced in a pleasing package, The winery's Gattinara 2006 from Nebbiolo is great.

Vallanges Macon Davaye 2014 , France $13.98, I have had this wine in other vintages and it is a good white Burgundy. I have high hopes for the 2014 vintage in France, worth a try.

Portugal article to follow shortly. We had a great time.