Quinta do Portal was one of our favorite Douro Valley wineries that we got to visit during our trip to Portugal, and naturally many of their bottles made its way home to us when the trip ended. One such bottle was Quinta do Portal’s 20 year tawny port, a lovely bottle that hit all the … Read more
Quinta do Tedo is a stellar winery in the Douro Valley that we were fortunate enough to visit in 2021. While this one is among the younger producers out there (by Douro standards at least), they do have a healthy mix of still and port wines, with their tawny line starting to creep into the … Read more
Normally when we travel via an airport, we often make a beeline straight for the lounge in order to get the lovely perks of a quiet space and, perhaps more importantly, free alcohol. But every so often we are unable to get into our lounge of choice, typically during peak hours when the demand is … Read more
When you think of port, odds are good your mind goes to that high-alcohol, intensely sweet, red wine from the Douro Valley. But the Douro Valley makes more than fortified red wine, and also makes some stellar white ports with the same age indications you would expect from a tawny port (10, 20, 30, and … Read more
When visiting Portugal, you’re going to have no shortage of great wine at your disposal. This country produces amazing wines from north to south, and the Douro Valley wineries are known for producing a unique fortified wine- aptly named Port. If you can’t make it to the Douro Valley on your trip (either via on … Read more
When we visited Portugal in 2021, we naturally had to go tasting at the many Douro Valley wineries as well as the port houses of Vila Nova di Gaia just across the river from Porto. One such port house we fell in love with was Kopke. Not only is this one said to be the … Read more
Before visiting Portugal, I felt like I had a rather robust understanding of all things port and the differences between styles like ruby, tawny, vintage, LBV, and the like thanks to taking WSET Level 3 (and of course, somewhat frequent samplings at home). It wasn’t until arriving that I learned more about another style of … Read more
When it comes to Thanksgiving, we hope that you are thinking about the wine pairings as much as you are the food. But if you are struggling with the best Thanksgiving wine pairings, don’t worry! We are here to help. In this one we thought we’d share some of our favorite pairings for different elements … Read more
Have you ever been in a wine store and confused over the sheer volume and types of wine? We’ve been there. Thankfully, when you stop to think of it the world of wine can be simplified down into a handful of core styles. So let’s break down the various wine types you may see and … Read more
One of the things students in WSET Diploma classes must learn is how to taste wine blind. Part of this is simply to get better at tasting wine. The other part of this is that the WSET Diploma exams that have tasting components often require us to identify characteristics in the wine such as its … Read more
