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Good afternoon/evening everyone!
Welcome to tonight’s LIVE virtual Presenting…Portugal! tasting.
If you’re planning to participate tonight then thank you - we’ve been hosting a virtual tasting nearly every week since lockdown began!
This week, our theme is ‘Presenting…Portugal!’ - we’ll all be bringing different Portuguese wine that we have at home, for a virtual taste-along.
Here’s how things will work:
- We will post a WIKI (editable list) of who’s tasting what tonight. Have a look and, if you’re not on there, please do add yourself! You can do that by clicking the ‘Edit’ button in the bottom right of the post.
- We’ll also post a poll to see who’s here - please let us know, and feel free to say hi and start chatting before we start.
- We’re all drinking different bottles, so it might be hard to keep track. Whenever you post tonight, please start your post with the name of the wine you’re drinking!
- To begin, we’ll invite you all to pour a glass, have a swirl and take in the aromas, and post your thoughts and first impressions. Feel free to take your time and have a good swirl and sniff.
- We’ll then taste the wines together and ask you to share your own tasting note. Feel free to add any additional food matches and/or your thoughts on how well the wine is drinking now, and how much longer it might age. Anything goes, and there are no wrong answers!
- After this, we’ll possibly have time to ask for your mark out of 10, or final thoughts.
Please then feel free to continue chatting about the wines you’re drinking (we’ll likely be indulging in another glass anyway!)
If you’re new to The Community and need help with how to use the forum for the tasting and what the tasting involves, have a read of our guide 'How To - Take part in our virtual #TWSTaste events
Portuguese Wine Guide
If you’re new to Portuguese wines and would like to swot up before the tasting, have a read of our Ultimate Guide to Portuguese Wine:
The Ultimate Guide to Portuguese Wine - Expertise - Explore - Discovery
A NOTE FROM OUR PORTUGAL BUYER JO LOCKE MW:
"At a seminar last year, author, columnist and authority on Portuguese wines, Jamie Goode, described Portugal as ‘a country that didn’t modernise’, that kept a ‘beautiful jumble of indigenous grape varieties’.
As a wine lover, what better reason could there be to explore Portuguese wines? The wine industry has now modernised of course, so that quality and consistency now go hand in hand with those unique grapes and flavours. And there is a new-found confidence among wine producers and a younger, more travelled and worldly generation now involved that can only continue to drive improvements. Most of Portugal’s 250+ grapes are indigenous varieties ideally suited to the varied topography and climate of this small but vinously significant country.
Douro DOC wines have led the charge for Portugal’s quality wine boom, but Bairrada, Dão and Alentejo are showing they are not to be outdone and all regions are producing exciting, individual styles, whether from new ventures like SFE’s Quinta da Fonte Souto or established ones like Adega do Mouchão, in different parts of the Alentejo region. A far smaller producer than Spain, Portugal has shown that it can compete at the value end too, with great and now reliable easy drinking styles particularly from the southern half of the country.
It is the Minho however, with Vinho Verde, that is producing the wines of the moment: pure wines with Atlantic freshness and moderate alcohol perfectly suited to today’s modern fusion cuisine, al fresco dining and pre-dinner supping. These wines have scored highly in our Wine Champs tastings over the last few years and this year it was the turn of our Exhibition Alvarinho, (which has flown out the door so we are busy shipping more!), one of four Portuguese wines to step up to the podium in our current offer. Our range is somewhat depleted post lockdown but rest assured Portugal will be back!"
Who’s on hand to help tonight
We have some of our staff attending tonight, so please feel free to use the below usernames and tag any of us if you need a hand (and if you’re new to The Community, please don’t hesitate to ask any questions you might have!)
@laura - Community Manager
@Kelly - Community Co-ordinator
@MrLaura - part of our Member Services team
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We’re looking forward to tonight and we hope to ‘see’ you there! 
Something’s come up that I’ve got to sort out first.
