In Alentejo: Carmim Winery, Monsarez & a castle!
The only castles I have ever seen were produced by Walt Disney.
But last night when I saw the walled city of Evora for the first time, I realized that this was REAL! I was NOT in Disneyland! And certainly not Kansas!
And today, I will get to see a REAL castle. Snow White and the Dwarves may not live there, but that’s fine with me. I went to Disneyland last month.
Since this is a wine trip sponsored by Enoforum Wines which produces wine from this, the Alentejo region, today will also feature tasting Carmim Wines at the winery we will see the vineyards and also learn also about their olive oil production. Then back to Evora for dinner.
I promise to take as many pictures as possible and share them! But if I don’t get going soon, I am going to be very late!
In the meantime, here’s one of the Roman aquaduct that I can see from my room in the Hotel M’Ar de Ar…not just from my room but from the giant luxurious bathtub as well!
Walt Whitman: I too am not a bit tamed, I too am untranslatable, I sound my barbaric YAWP over the roofs of the world.
“I too am not a bit tamed, I too am untranslatable, I sound my barbaric YAWP over the roofs of the world.” ~ Walt Whitman
That is exactly how I am feeling tonight here in the ancient walled city of Evora, about an hour east toward Spain from Lisbon on this adventure to the European Wine Bloggers Conference and to a tour of the Alentejo wine region on a trip hosted by Enoforum Wines. The wind is wild and the rain mists and the moon dodges the clouds. Portugal is a land full the of ghosts of previous civilizations–the Romans, the Moors, the peasants, the feudal kings, the explorers, the plunderers– and they are all out and about today, All Saints Day. Say hello and welcome home.
Soon I will update you with a post and photographs about my visit to the Tejo region’s cork forest and wineries, followed by travel to Evora for a delicious dinner of tapas and setting into the beautiful and luxurious hotel M’Ar de Ar where I have a view of the Roman Aquaduct from my jacuzzi bath and my bed–which is calling me! Time to get some rest.
Charles Metcalf’s Grand Tasting of Portugal: a live blogged account from the EWBC 2009
Next up at the European Wine Bloggers Conference: Charles Metcalf’s Grand tasting of Portugal. Metcalf wrote a book on wine and food in Portugal which makes him somewhat of an expert and certianly a worthwhile guide for a tasting of a variety of Portuguese wines. Certainly he has a lovely accent and voice.
Organizer Ryan Opaz asked Metcalf to present wines that really tell a story about Portugal. As a wine writer from the UK, he’s trying to present a greater understanding of the unknown wines of Portugal. Which means there will be no wines from the Douro.
WINE #1: We’re starting with a sparkling alvarino, similar to the spanish albarino, from the vino 
verde region. Forgive me if I butcher some spellings especially as I am live blogging very unfamiliar wines, regions, and who knows what else!
Thankfully, we’re assisted with the Adegga.com site which tells me I am tasting a Coto De Mamoelas Bruto Reserva Alvarinho 2006. It’s similar to albarino, and it’s quite aromatic. Aha! It’s a vino verde–in that that’s a blend. Here’s my ignorance showing–hope it’s a a sweet slip, showing my naivete. It’s only 11.5%! If I could find this wine, I would.
So many firsts this trip! Just today I’ve tasted about 6 new varieties, maybe more. No definitely more.
WINE #2: Next up, a wine from Covela which is in vino verde country but just on the verge near the Douro. It’s a biodynamic vineyard Read more…
The European Wine Bloggers Conference, like the American ones I attended in Santa Rose in 2008 and 2009, is a confluence of various wine oriented businesses including wineries, importers and distribut0rs, not just wine bloggers. Here are some excerpts of posts first published on Wine Predator. from my trip sponsored by Enoforum Wines which exports wines from the Alentejo region of Portugal.
EWBC Session on the Future of Social Wine Media: new tech, media & publishing
Ryan Opaz of http://www.catavino.net is moderating a panel on “Social Media Brand Future: New Technologies, New Media, and Publishing” with Esteban Cabezas, Marcio Ferreira, and Evelyn Resnick.
It’s a time of disruption, certainly, as marketing professionals and the products they represent try to find their way in a topsy-turvy world where they no longer get to tell consumers what to think about a product and what to do. Consumers can find out for themselves and expect to be part of a conversation. But how can, how will this all play out?
With help from folks like Ryan Opaz who is bridging the gap by organizing events like the EWBC, suggests Esteban Cabezas of the Wine Academy of Spain. And more people like him (and Esteban too!). We have to get personal, he also says. And that can be uncomfortable for businesses.
Consumers go to the net looking for help in finding find their wine nirvana. Wine bloggers help them do this, points out a woman in the audience.
What’s the role of the wine writer versus the role of the wine blogger? Both are “publishing.”
As Jo Diaz put it in a tweet, “wineries are having a hard time making sense of all of this media power. Who owns the rights to tell consumers what they’ll like?”
Check out @wineblog.org which is Jo Diaz on twitter for more of her tweets about this session and others. She’s a great tweeter and caught some of the finer points of today’s discussion. She’s also blogging from the conference so go to Jo Diaz’s blog what she’s seeing and saying!
How can you bring quality traffic to your site by assisting search engines in finding it? That’s the topic for the next session at the European Wine Bloggers Conference with Doug Cook of Able Grape’s presentation on Search Engine Friendliness conveniently available for you to see on his site, Able Grape.
Is more traffic better?
No, according to Doug Cook. Traffic that engages your site is better. Does your audience see what you offer as adding value to the web or spamming you? Read more…
What’s Up Lisbon? Art Predator arrives!
After 24 hours of travel, last night I arrived in Lisbon where Enoforum Wine’s Delfim Costa picked me up and escorted me to the VIP Hotel nearby –just in time to join in the evening’s festivities of dinner and tasting.
Most of the dishes on the buffet was new for me and I loved everything I tasted. Two kinds of octopus! Beans cooked in bacon or some variation of goodness using the flavor and fat from a pig (mmmn, bacon!)
But the real standouts of the evening were wines from Douro. Read more…
Art Predator Arrives in Lisbon!
That’s right, I made it!
I will post later about the trip across America, over the pond to Zurich and then on to Lisbon. Along with pictures with my new Canon Ixus! And video with my new flip style camera!
But right now, I am busy with the European Wine Bloggers Conference! I can’t wait to tell you about my trip so far and about the incredible wine from Douro I had last night with dinner (at 11pm!).
So in the meantime, I will be posting about the European Wine Bloggers Conference as much as possible, then share with you my adventures in the Alentejo Wine Region and then more about Lisbon.Thanks again to Enoforum Wines for sponsoring my travel here.
Watch this space for more stories!
Art Predator En Route To Europe!
I’ve got my ticket and passport in hand (more on how soon!) and I’m on my way! Europe, here I come! I am so excited! I leave tonight, Thursday, and arrive tomorrow night, Friday, just in time for dinner (and wine!) at the European Wine Bloggers Conference at the VIP Hotel in Lisbon.
Don’t miss a word–subscribe to my blog by clicking the link in the upper right hand corner. I’ll also be posting on twitter and facebook. (If you want to be my friend on facebook, please write me a note saying you read my blog.)
Yes You CAN Get A Passport in 48 Hours or less: Here’s How Part 1
When I heard on Friday that Sonadora wouldn’t be going on the Enoforum Tour of the Alentejo Wine Region of Portugal, I wondered whether I would get an opportunity to go. Since my passport wasn’t up to date due to a birth certificate snafu when I got it for a trip to Peru in January 2001, I knew I’d need to move fast if an invitation was extended.
Would it be possible for me to acquire my birth certificate AND my passport in time to make it to Portugal for the tour Monday Nov 2? And hopefully sooner so I could participate in the European Wine Bloggers Conference? That was a big question.
And when the answer was YES, I set the wheels in motion.
So how can YOU get a birth certificate and passport on short notice? Stay tuned for Part 2 where I tell you how how to get a passport in 24-72 hours give or take a dash across 15 miles of LA on Wilshire Blvd in order to make an appointment with the Passport Agency.
Going to Portugal: Where they have wine & corks & PORT!
As I pour myself my usual evening port (Jonesy from AUS $9 at the Ventura WIne Company), I have to laugh to myself because it just now occurred to me that I would be in Portugal, land of PORT! Seriously, I’ve been thinking about the trip we’ll make to a cork forest, and traveling the Alentejo wine region with Enoforum Wines as my host and live blogging at the European Wine Bloggers Conference…and and being in EUROPE where I’ve never been and so much to think about with travel and passports and packing and and and
I realize that I will be in the land of Port. Wow. I think I’ll have a little more please. Thanks!
PS Don’t miss a post from my trip to Europe! Subscribe in the upper right hand corner!
Last year I led some writing workshops in my son’s class. His group wrote a poem, “I am a Scary Smelly Skeleton Pirate” which my son and I turned into this YouTube video. Here’s the text to the poem and here’s two more Halloween oriented poems from that workshop.
And here we are as un muy pequeno calavero with Art Predator aka Ms Frizzle of the Magic School Bus fame.
River of Skulls: the perfect wine for Halloween & Dia de los Muertos & more
Yep, Twisted Oak’s River of Skulls: This is the wine you need for Halloween, Dia de los Muertos, and maybe for all the sinners on your list: Twisted Oak’s River of Skulls, a mourverde with a little syrah thrown in.This is a special creature, this wine. Sorry to say that unless you have a trip planned to Calaveras county, you’re out of luck. You can get on the list now for next year! Sign up here.
While my favorite blend on Earth has to be GSM (grenache/syrah/mourvedre), seeking out a mourvedre– “the sinner” in all its wild gamey glory–seems perfect for this time of year. And for my money, I’m going for Twisted Oaks “River of Skulls” which conveniently arrived a few weeks ago in my “Twisted Few” allotment!
I had the amazing opportunity to taste this wine at last year’s Wine Blogging Conference 2008 and it wowed the socks off of me. (OK, I admit, I’m a sucker for mourvedre!) This year, El Jefe aka Jeff Stai served it up during the live blogging portion of the 2009 Wine Bloggers conference. This wine not only wowed us bloggers but in recent competition and tastings, it’s done well: they just got word
from Wine Enthusiast magazine that the 2006 Spaniard will receive a score of 92 points, and the 2007 River of Skulls will receive a 90 point score, in their December issue. Congrats to Jeff and crew!
For more poetry, jump on the TRAIN! For more about wine, head over to Wine Predator! That’s where I plan to aggregate my wine posts and where I will post first from the European Wine Bloggers Conference and from the Enoforum Tour of the Alentejo region of Portugal. (Oh, you didn’t hear about that? You didn’t hear my joyous noise? Go here to learn more.)
There is some ghostly formatting going on here–just attribute it to the hi-jinx of los calaveras!
art predator 