See below for what happened.........

 A Tasting of Portuguese Wines

The Draganski's and Nelson's invite you to join us for a spectacular tasting of Portuguese wines that you probably never knew existed. 

If you thought they only made Port wine over there, we have a surprise for you.

Apéritif  

Nobilis Vinho Verde 2008

The Wines

Santa Vitoria Alentejano 2006

 Vale de Bomfin  Douro Reserva 2004

 Vinha do Monte  Alentejano  2005 

 Quinto do Carmo Dom Martinho  Alentejano 2005

 Quinto dos Grilos 2006

 Graham's Fine Tawny Port - Porto 

  Please bring your own glasses.  No smoking or strong fragrances--please.

 A special home made dessert will be served with the port wine.

Attendees recognize they will consume alcohol and assume responsibility of having done so.

Attendance will be limited to the first 32.  Reservation deadline is Monday, November 17, 2008.

Members  $19.00            Guests   $21.00

What Happened.........

This tasting was organized and presented by Dick and Betty Draganski and Ed and Betty Lou Nelson.

Ed introduced us to the regions and explained much of Portugal’s wine history. He noted that there were hundreds of grape varieties there, and that their most traditional wine, port, utilizes many of them.  In the early days port with its brandy constituent shipped well to England, where it was greatly favored. Ed also noted the popular combination of port and cigars in those days.

Now the producers are adding very good still wines to their offerings.

Betty Draganski presented many of the wines. She noted the difficulty of finding a wide variety of choices, but they were able to secure wines for this tasting by going as far as Delaware in their search. 

In her presentation, she told us much about the wines and producers, including the story of Sogrape, founded in 1942 by Fernando van Zeller Guedes and some partners, who developed the very popular Mateus Rose` with its bottle shaped like a WWI soldier’s flask.

The wines we tasted were from many grape varieties, among them Antão Vaz and Alicante. Of the wines we tasted, the favorite was the Vinha do Monte of the Sogrape Heredad do Paso brand. It is typically made of a selection of grapes including Trincadiera, Alfrocheiro, and Arigonés, The second was the Quinto dos Grilos, of Alfrocheiro and Touriga Nacional from the Dao region. The third most liked was the Vale do Bomfin from the Duoro made of Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz (Temperanillo in Spain), and Tinta Barroca .  All were well liked. 

Some very good breads and three cheeses, Manchego, Asiago and Vermont Cheddar, accompanied the wines.

We then sampled a Fine Tawny Port along with an excellent Pear and Blueberry Crisp, made by Betty and Betty Lou. And there was coffee as well.

Everyone thought it to be an excellent introduction to the Wines of Portugal, and appreciated the work that our hosts put into this tasting.