Content about Port wine

February 4, 2013

Watch for more Portuguese wine on the shelves in the coming year, as well as major promotional events featuring them.

Portugal is making great efforts to increase the awareness of her quality dry wines in the United States from all major regions, including Alentejo , Minho/Vinho Verde, Lisbon/Estremadura, Bairrada, Dao, Setubal, and Algarve, as well as Douro, from which Port comes. Douro has already made inroads for some of its dry wines, with Douro Boys portfolio as an example.

February 1, 2013

The Great NYC Wine Bazaar

For those in the trade, now is the Golden Age of Wine

For those of us in the wine trade who work in and around New York City, this is the Golden Age of Wine.

January 10, 2013

The Human Touch

Let's not forget that relationships can - and should - often trump ratings and our social theories.

Some years ago, when I was in corporate marketing, I was transferred to our company’s pharmaceuticals division – the people who make and sell prescription drugs. After a few days of going out on calls with sales reps to doctors’ offices, I came to a surprising conclusion: Physicians, with all their scientific training, often made decisions on which drugs to put into their sample closets o

October 1, 2012

Reflections on a Glass of Port

The attractiveness of Port can be found in the excuses people give for not drinking it.

It was the middle of the Port grape harvest last week in the Douro Valley, and I was having a cup of morning coffee with Rupert Symington – one of a band of brothers and cousins who run the family Port business – before we headed out to spend a day visiting the quintas (vineyard estates) that supply the family’s sterling group of Port brands: Graham’s, Warre’s, Dow’s, Smith Woodhouse and, more-

July 12, 2012

A Delicious Dilemma for Portuguese Wines

Good quality, good prices. Now, how to you get people to try them?

Recently, I had the opportunity to spend a week in Portugal drinking fine wines and eating good foods as I talked with winemakers from up and down the countryside. My visit included wineries in the Douro Valley, the Vinho Verde area, Bairrada, and Lisboa, as well as sitting in on presentations by winemakers from Alentejo, which I have previously toured, and from Tejo, which I have not.

March 10, 2012

So Many New Wines. . .

Never has the world produced so many quality wines in so many different countries. Consequently, a beverage director/sommelier has more options to choose from than ever before.

September 23, 2011

I check out yours....

Visiting a wine store is an incredibly economical use of your time to gain information that gives you a competitive advantage.

I’m referring to our respective wine programs, of course, and there might be valuable information you’re missing by not paying a wine retailer a visit.

June 21, 2011

Are your guests being served wine properly?

Good wine service techniques are universal, whether the restaurant’s style is formal white table cloth or casual bistro.

Perhaps they’re only being half-served, or poorly served.

Basic aspects of wine service are often slaughtered, regardless of the level and reputation of the restaurant.

March 2, 2011

Beyond Port

In a rapidly evolving and expanding wine world, even a certified wine wonk should be excused for being oblivious to a heretofore humble wine region or even to new wines emerging from classic European vineyards. Take, for example, Douro table wi

February 28, 2011

Thoughts on Open That Bottle Night

An annual wine celebration highlights the differences in how people who drink a lot - professionally or as learned amateurs - prefer to enjoy and evaluate their wines.

February 11, 2011

Taylor Fladgate's 1855 Port

Before the American Civil War, before phylloxera wiped out the vineyards of Europe, before Darwin published his "On the Origin of the Species," a winegrower in the Douro Valley laid down a few barrels of his 1855 vintage. Last y

February 4, 2011

PORTFOLIO RESTAURANT EVENTS-Ongoing, Seattle, WA

January 26, 2011

Creative Wine Buying in a Down Market

We all know that the image of a restaurant with patrons enjoying the open bottles of wine on their table sends a message that you are at a wine destination.

January 19, 2011

The Master Blender of Porto

Whether making Champagne, first-growth Bordeaux or California Meritage, the challenge of blending from the various cuvees is the highest of the winemaker's cellar arts. None does in better - or has more on the line - than Natasha Brid