Vinoble is close to my heart. It was one of the first wine shows I attended when I moved to Spain; and personally, I feel it is one of the best wine fairs out there. Unusual in its narrow focus on dessert wines, Vinoble is a rare specimen that attracts those of us who thrive on rare and unique experiences. Where else can you taste Chateau d’yquem next to Canadian apple ice wine (seriously good stuff)? Held every other year in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, it is a wine show like no other. And one particular highlight is the opportunity for a country to gain the spotlight for one year. If you’re following the breadcrumbs, you’ve probably deducted who the 2010 featured country is…oh yes, it’s Portugal!

So when we were contacted by Vinoble, we were elated to have them sponsor a tasting, giving us a sneak peek at 2010′s treasures to be tasted . But we’ve decided to conduct this tasting a bit differently.

Portugal is renowned for its sweet wines, and while we look forward to showcasing all the great treasures that exist in both dry and sweet, we figured it’s a fantastic opportunity to kick off the 2009 EWBC by pouring some of the greatest sweet treats in Iberia. At 5:30 on Friday night, we’ll be opening historic ports, madeiras, sherries, and more, all in the hopes of satiating your sweet tooths! On top of this, it will be considered a kickoff event for Vinoble itself announcing Portugal’s status at this year’s event.

Vinoble is an International Exhibition of Noble[sweet] Wines that in 2010 will take place from the 30th of May to the 2nd of June. It is the only one dedicated to  fortified, dessert and natural sweet wines. It is held every two years in Jerez de la Frontera. These noble wines, complex, special, and always made with great affection and care, never had a global event to showcase themselves despite of being regarded as some of the best wines in the world.  Thus Vinoble was created to become the showcase of these sweet treasures.

Needless to say we are ecstatic to have them, and even more excited to announce that they will also be giving away a free trip to one lucky individual to attend Vinoble 2010. One lucky blogger will be flown to Jerez de la Frontera, put up in a hotel and welcomed to Vinoble, where they will be able to taste some of the finest sweet wines from around the world.

So for now, we welcome Vinoble to the EWBC and hope that you all bring your dessert palates to Portugal; trust me, you’re going to need them!

We are supporting the European Wine Bloggers Conference because we want wine bloggers to not only learn about this very unique and exciting project, but also for us to learn about social media through you. Hence, on the eve of Saturday, October 31st, we will host an exclusive dinner for you at the internationally renowned Restaurant Eleven.

For those of you not familiar with Restaurant Eleven, it is considered one of the premier restaurants in Lisbon, propped above Parque Eduardo VII, next to the Amalia Rodruiges gardens, and just a short walk from the EWBC host hotel, VIP Grand Lisboa. Hence, your views of not only the old city of Lisbon, but also the Tagus River, are not only breathtaking but memorable.

The etymology of the word stems from 11 friends who desperately wanted to create a world-class restaurant both in and for Lisbon. They hired three architects – Joao Correia, Cristina Santos Silva and Ana Menezes Cardoso – to fashion a 2 story building that embodies both minimalism and organic design. With floor to ceiling windows, light beautifully bounces off the exquisite artwork of two renowned Portuguese artists: sculpture Joana Vasconcelos and photopher Jorge Crus.

The restaurant’s Chef is Joachim Koerper, who was formerly at Girasol, a two Michelin-star restaurant in Spain. The gastronomic concept of Eleven is deeply linked to Joachim Koerper’s skills and to his desire of adapting his creativity to the environment where his restaurants are located, recreating traditional recipes and finding new ways to use the ingredients available from the local markets. Joachim practices a market cuisine of the season since he changes his menus to use the best ingredients available during each season, every day.

We trust you will enjoy this dinner, and hope that this will be the first of many conversations we will have in the near future.

For any questions you might have, please never hesitate to contact me:

Marlene Tavares

Sousa Cunhal Turismo SA
Av. Liberdade 212  SL Dta – 1250-147   Lisboa
Tel.+351 213304542/3 Fax: +351 213304544
Web site: www.l-and.com
Email: m.tavares@l-and.com

However, what is interesting is the way in which we are supporting the conference. We have chosen to sponsor Zev Robinson, a video artist, who is currently creating a film on social media and its impact on the wine industry. Infovini will help Zev attend the conference, conducting interviews, attending sessions, and generally collecting as much information as possible to weave together the impact of social media in wine. And as we believe that social media will play an ever increasing role in wine promotion, what better way to support the conference than through continuing research into the field.

As for our attendance to the conference, we are very excited to share experiences and ideas with others regarding the most effective ways in which we as a community can promote wine through the use of web 2.0 technology, whether that be through social networks or web marketing. Additionally, we’re eager to meet all of you, as wine bloggers have been the catalyst to a massive change in the wine industry. We are eager to chat with you, garner from your experiences, and learn how we can not only improve Infovini, but Portuguese wine promotion as a whole.

If you should need anything from us in the future, please don’t hesitate to contact us at infovini@infovini.com.

Alentejo is the largest region of Portugal and is known for its strong gastronomy and wine culture. The wine region has in total 22,000 hectares (54,362 acres) and is a vast, rural area of flat plains, cork oaks and olive trees. The flatness is broken by the occasional “Monte” or low hill on which a large estate or small village is located.

The Alentejo was the standard bearer for Portugal’s wine revolution, adopting modern winegrowing methods with great results and international critical acclaim. The region has excellent whites, but is best known for red wines which are generally full-bodied, fruity and suitable for aging, its DOC sub-regions are Portalegre, Borba, Redondo, Vidigueira, Reguengos, Granja/Amareleja, Moura and Évora, with Regional Alentejano wines becoming evermore popular. In the last decade, wine tourism became more popular and today this is one one of the preferred destinations in Portugal.

The departure will be from the VIP Grand Lisboa Hotel in Lisbon on the 1st of November at 8:00 AM. On the way the group can enjoy the beautiful landscape and the first stop will be at Quinta do Mouro in Estremoz. The property was bought by the Louro Family several decades ago and releases wines since 1994.  Here the group will do a guided tour with the owner and will be able to taste a selection of internationally acclaimed wines.

At 11:30 AM the group will depart to Herdade do Esporão in Reguengos de Monsaraz, where they will visit the vast winery, taste selected wines from their portfolio, and enjoy a traditional Portuguese lunch.

Herdade do Esporão is situated in a place blessed by nature, with a typical and idyllic Alentejo landscape, at about 2km from Reguengos de Monsaraz, and it is one of the most prestigious wine productions in Alentejo region, widely known for the quality of its wines.

Esporão Estate is an historical place, with its territory formed since 1267, and preserving up to these days some important heritage, like the Tower of Esporão, built between 1457 and 1490, one of the most important towers built during the transition from the Middle Ages to the modern era, and a symbol of the Estate, present in all the products.

At 17:30 the group will arrive at the VIP Grand Lisboa Hotel.

We hope you truly enjoy this trip and, because it is just a taste of the region, we hope this will be the first of many other visits to Alentejo.

ORGANIZATION
The CVRA was created in 1989 and is a private and interprofessional regional controlling board, responsible for the application of the Alentejo wine regulations. The Commission monitors the quality of the wines, guarantees its authenticity and promotes the image of the collective brand “Wines of Alentejo”. The CVR Alentejana supervises the use of the DOC Alentejo and IG Alentejano on bottle labels and controls the issuing of its guaranty seals. The head-office is located in Évora, a designated World Heritage site by UNESCO.
The Commission also runs the Alentejo Wine Route, promoting the development of Wine Tourism in the region.

To get to know more about the wine region, visit: www.vinhosdoalentejo.pt

To see photos of the Alentejo, please download this pdf.
Contact at CVR Alentejana:
Maria Amélia Vaz da Silva
Tel: +351 266 746 498
Mobile: +351 927 140 044
Skype: maria.amelia.vaz.da.silva
Email: m.amelia@vinhosdoalentejo.pt

At DOC- DMC we are not winemakers, but we are wine lovers. We believe that whoever loves wine, also loves to discover!

In Portugal there is still a considerable amount to discover. Historically, Portuguese wine has slowly gained traction outside of the country’s borders, but as a result of a new generation of winemakers rediscovering the many autochthonous grapes which give a unique character to Portuguese wine, our fame has begun to spread like wildfire.

Our team at DOC-DMC has come a long way in organizing events, incentives and trips. This know-how combined with traditional gastronomy and the beautiful countryside makes wine trips to Portugal an irresistible choice.

This is why we are sponsoring the EWBC. We are fully aware that Portugal needs all the help it can get in spreading the word about our local treasures. From our varied and distinct traditional cuisine to our vast and changing landscapes, we can only hope that you as bloggers will fall equally in love with our wine, food and culture as we have.

And how do we convince you of our unique treasures? We will bring you on a full day adventure on Sunday through the wine regions of Setubal and Terras do Sado, where you will visit 3 wineries varying in size and style, a traditional tile factory and dine on a vast array of traditional Portuguese foods. It is our hope that by the end of your trip, you will not only have a fundamental understanding of these two regions, but also a desire to come back and visit again. Full Schedule of Sunday Trip is listed below

What else can DOC-DMC offer a passionate wine lover?

• Gastronomic trips to Portugal for individual travellers or small groups to all well known DOC Areas from the Minho to the Douro and from the Dão , to the Ribatejo, Alentejo or the recently “re-animated” Algarve.
• Offers for weekend stays combined with a round of golf, or even a relaxing day spa.
• Events related with wine: team building and wine courses, eno-gastronomic dinners or wine tastings in charming settings.
• “Winelands of Portugal “, are travel books which will allow you to discover the best wineries, cellars or other selected tasting venues of the most important DOC areas, as well as a choice of restaurants in order to enjoy the best of local gastronomy. Based on the suggestions of “Winelands” you will also be able to make your own itinerary choosing from the suggested venues, enjoying wine tasting, lunch or dinner using the vouchers included in the travel book. This product will be available on the internet this year and is currently sold in the reception of over 30 of the best hotels of Portugal.
• Moreover we are the exclusive dealers of the Enomatic Wine Serving Systems in Portugal, a technology we import from Italy which is a leading product for conserving and selling wine by glass.
• Our small selection and distribution of “Vinhos de Quinta”, wines with an excellent price – quality relationship produced by smaller wineries. Similar to a boutique sales, “Vinhos de Quinta” has found clientele among Lisbon’s best restaurants and hotels who love to introduce and discover new brands and tastes of Portuguese wines.
• Clube Doc aims to promote the Portuguese DOC Areas and wines to people in Portugal. Be it a gastronomic dinner to discover flower and fruity notes in red wines, an excursion to the unknown wine area east of Lisbon, or a trip to the wine harvest in Douro, the Clube Doc Calender organizes monthly gatherings!

We are elated to have you join us, and hope that we can be a resource for you if you should ever have questions about the wine, food and culture of Portugal!

Sincerely,

The DOC-DMC Team

Schedule:

09:30 – Pick up

10:15 – The Day will start with a visit of the prestigious winery “Bacalhôa Vinhos de Portugal”, which is the result of nearly 82 years of dedication to the production of wine. The innovative character of this winery is the combination of tradition with state of the art technology, which results in an annual average production of nearly 12 million litters of wine. This magnificent winery is part of the “Grupo dos Sete” (Group of Seven), a unique organization which gathers seven of the most significant private companies of the Portuguese wine industry. The winery is owned mostly by one of the most important Portuguese patrons of modern art, José Berardo and has a large art collection spread all over the property. Finalizing the visit you will have the opportunities to taste some of the renowned Bacalhoa Vinhos.

11:30 – We will next visit the historical and traditional winery José Maria da Fonseca, a family run business established in 1834, with a background of two centuries in the art of wine making. Piriquita is their most famous brand, in fact ,the first of all table wines produced in Portugal. A further hightlight of the visit will be the Moscatel Wine cellar with thousands of precious well aged bottles or this sweet fortified wine. This winery indeed has some stories to tell !  A tasting of several of their red wines and of course Moscatel  will follow the visit, accompanied by the no less famous cheese and the traditional bread of this charming village.

12:30 – Our next stop will be by the “São Simão” workshop, where the ancient tile painting tradition is still carried on to this day. We will be able to see the artists at work and thereby learn some of the secrets of this trade. The exhibition rooms display glazed tile panels and porcelain pieces decorated with the patterns and colors of the 18th century.

13:30 – A fantastic buffet, prepared by the famous restaurant Alcanena, is awaiting us now. On the table you will find a selection of Portuguese cheeses, sausages and smoked meats, 16 traditional cold salads, various soups as well as several different Portuguese meats and fish, such as hare with white beans, partridge pie, pork meat Alentejo style, duck rice, fried entrecote with rice and beans, seafood “açorda”, spiritual codfish, calamari Algarve style and many others. But the meal is only finished after the dessert: egg pudding, milk cream, chocolate mousse, almond cake, orange cake and cheese cake are some of the delicacies we will be able to taste.

15:30 – When this superb meal is finished we will proceed to the nearby winery “Horácio Simões”, in order to taste the Moscatel de Setúbal and the Moscatel Roxo, still made in traditional grape presses, as well as the Aguardente Velha.

16:30 – Return trip to the hotel.