My Vineyard Blog March 2011

Eurovision Revolution

The Eurovison Song Contest is a joke in the UK; a celebration of Euro-camp sneered at with amused fascination by British TV commentators and viewers alike. But Portugal has taken it very seriously in the past and in 1974 the song contest entry, E Depois do Adeus sung by Paulo de Carvalho was used as a signal to start the 25th April Revolution (by the way Sweden won that year with Waterloo by Abba). This year the Portuguese entry is intentionally revolutionary, much to the chagrin of the establishment.

Portugal is catching on at last

It’s that time of year when we all meet up to sell our wine. Today most of Portugal’s wine makers are in London at Lords Cricket Ground, selling their wares. It is very difficult to make yourself heard when there are hundreds of wines on show and we very nearly decided not to attend this year. I am pleased that we did. After a slow start we had a steady flow of people coming past our table to taste Pedra Basta 2008 as well as cask samples of Duas Pedras 2009 and Pedra e Alma 2009.