To Porto for the biannual tasting of our Portuguese distributor Portfolio. I say tasting but it is really more of an entertainment for clients; restaurateurs, hoteliers, owners of garrafeiras (wine shops) from all over Portugal. There are wines to taste, arranged in groups to be tasted at different ‘moments’ over five hours. The event takes place at the newly restored Graham’s Port Lodge which is well worth a visit in itself.
It is spring in the Serra. I heard the first cuckoo today. After a long, cold wet spring (there was snow in the Serra da Estrela as late as last weekend) we finally have some summer warmth with temperatures rising into the mid-20s. The vineyard has never looked better with neat rows of vines sprouting that indescribably tender spring green that you only find for a few days at this time of year. We have a potentially large crop of grapes although much will now depend on what happens to the weather next month during the flowering.