When you think of the Portuguese wine industry what is your first thought?  Perhaps it’s that delicious desert wine long adored by the English and world alike- Port. Perhaps it’s the beautifully terraced vineyards of the Douro.

Or perhaps you are new to wine and haven’t given much thought to Portugal.  If this is the case, welcome.  You are in for a treat!

Sexy, alluring, brilliant- the myriad indigenous vine varieties of Portugal have long enjoyed isolation from outside influences.  Where other countries have ripped out vineyards of indigenous varieties in order to plant internationals like cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay to please growing world markets, Portugal has long stayed true to its roots.

For a country that helped to discover much of the New World, Portugal itself has a history of political isolation.  Well, at least until it joined the European Union in 1986.

A Touch on Portuguese History

Back track to the 12th century.  The Treaty of Windsor is signed in 1386 between England and Portugal and solidified with the marriage of King John I of Portugal to Philippa of Lancanster, daughter of John of Gaunt.  This treaty put into effect an amicable pact between the two countries, which is still in effect today and holds as the oldest diplomatic treaty in the world.

When England went to war with France in the 17th century, Portugal became the main supplier of wine (think port) to England.  If you’ve ever heard that port is ‘the English man’s wine’, the rumors are true.

Fast forward to 1932.  Following 20 years of financial and political upheaval, Antonio de Oliveira Salazar becomes Prime Minister.  His pro-Catholic, authoritarian, anti-liberalism regime reorganized Portugal’s chaotic wine industry.  During this time, the Junta Nacional do Vinho founded over 100 winery cooperatives in less than 20 years which stood as an advancement for Portugal’s wine industry.

However, this tight control by the government led to a lowering of wine-making standards.

Salazar’s authoritarian regime lasted until 1974 when Portugal once again found itself in political upheaval.  The Carnation Revolution began on April, 25th 1974, lasted two years and transformed the Portuguese regime from dictatorship to democracy.

The European Union Saves the Day

During most of the 20th century, Portugal remained largely closed off to the outside world until it joined the European Union in 1986.  The EU has long supported countries with agricultural need and therefore poured money into modernizing Portugal’s wine industry.

The EU overturned the country’s monopolistic legislation while providing grants and low interest loans.  This encouraged many single estates to cut their ties with co-operatives and create their own distinctive brands.

Today regions like the Dao, Douro and Alentejo have some of the most modern wine-making facilities in southern Europe while maintaining a strong commitment to the country’s indigenous grape varieties.

So How Does Portugal’s History Relate to Australian-Born Winemaker David Baverstock?

In 1973 the 2,000-hectare Herdade do Esporão Estate outside the town of Reguengos de Monsaraz, in the Alentejo region was purchased by Portuguese banker José Roquette.  The changing political environment of The Carnation Revolution after this purchase caused Roquette to flee to Brazil, and as a result the Esporão Estate, whose borders have not changed since 1267, fell into disrepair.

During this time grapes grown on the land were sold to the local cooperative as there was no winery.

Roquette’s return to Portugal in 1979 ushered in a revival to the Esporão Estate.  He built a winery in 1987 and in 1992 hired David Baverstock, who has since served as Director of Enology, Chief Winemaker.

Baverstock’s career leading up to Esporão has taken many turns around the globe.  In the below video he talks about what led him to Portugal’s Alentejo Region.

As Director of Enololgy Baverstock has worked directly with the indigenous Portuguese grape varieties planted on the Esporão Estate- aragonês, bastardo, trincadeira, roupeiro, moreto, touriga nacional, periquita and antão vaz (among many others).

Baverstock brought with him several New World technological innovations when he arrived at Esporão.  These innovations included temperature controlled fermentation, stainless steel tanks, improved hygiene and American oak.  With these innovations Esporão table wines transformed from heavy and oxidized to table wines of elegance, balance and bold fruit.

In 1999 Baverstock was awarded Portugal’s ‘Winemaker of the Year’, the first non-Portuguese to do so.

Breaking Into World Markets- What Baverstock Had to Say During Our Interview

“Portugal has been opened the door now for a number of years, and finally the quality is there, the consistency is there and the interest now there.

I do a lot of traveling.  I’ve been in China this year, I’ve been in Brazil and you kinda feel that there’s alot of curiosity about Portugal as a wine producing country.  The wines are really starting to measure up.  The Duoro wines are putting a lot of focus on Portugal as a wine producing country because they are the ones that have, if you like, the nice Spectator points and the most interest particularly from the U.S. market.

But the Alentejo, which is where we are, is coming in behind that.  We can produce more volume and more consistency.  There’s two really important Portuguese wine regions that are bringing alot of focus to the country which are the Duoro and the Alentejo.”

In fact, if you keep your eyes peeled you will find that table wines from this country are often the quality of a $30 to $50 wine from Napa at half the price.

The Future

One year ago Herdade do Esporão enlisted as a partner of Countdown 2010 to Save Biodiversity.  The Countdown’s mission is “to mobilize action to ensure that all governments and members of civil society, at every level, have taken the necessary actions to halt the loss of biodiversity by 2010″.

I also talked with David about global warming and Esporão’s preparation for environmental changes.  Turns out producers in the Alentejo region have plans to combat the threat of climatic change.

More Background on the Estate

The Esporão Estate was once home to Roman wine makers.  In fact, the planting of new vineyards on the estate is often disrupted by excavation- so much so, in fact, that a museum has been constructed on the estate to showcase these artifacts.  Esporao also produces an exciting line-up of olive oil, all sourced from olive groves in the Moura region of the Alentejo.

Wrapping It Up

Enjoying a Portuguese wine not only brings you closer to the country’s indigenous varieties but also connects you to its vibrant history, culture and terroir. La vie est belle, non?

Credits

Images:

• Alentejo Vineyard and Esporão Tower from The Wine Cabinet.com
• Photo of David Baverstock provided by Herdade do Esporão

I used these references to write this article:

• The Oxford Companion to Wine, 3rd Edition by Jancis Robinson
• Portugal’s Grape Escape. Winemakers in the Alentejo Find Local Answers to Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon by Rod Usher
• ‘Herdade do Esporao’ by Berry Brothers and Rudd

If you’ve tried a Portuguese table wine lately get back to me and tell me what you think!

It’s fascinating what you learn by being there.  You can study all you want in books, but seeing a wine region in person unlocks a reality that takes you to a new understanding.  You experience the smells, the color, the people, the vineyards and it finally lifts off the pages of your wine books and becomes tangible.

I was fortunate to have Paolo Ferrero as a tour guide while in Piedmont.  A native to the area and author of several books on the region, Paolo has the ability to show you Piedmont in a way that would be impossible as a foreigner.

We visited Giacomo Brezza & Fils.  The video below was taken at the entrance of Brezza’s original cellar built in 1885.  It was once used for cellar operations and is now used for oak maturation.  The gentleman translating is Paolo and the winemaker is Oreste Brezza who talks about their four Grand Cru from Vineyards Bricco Saramassa, Saramassa, Cannubi and Castellero.

Want to watch it in a larger format? Go here.

After the tour we had a traditional Piedmontese lunch in their winery.  The dessert they served was off-the-hook for the simple reason that it contained their Barolo as the main ingredient.  The dish was made with egg white, sugar and –yep- their Barolo mixed in.  It was outstanding for the geek-out fact that Barolo in the U.S. is just too fantastic and coveted to rock in a recipe.

Have I mentioned we tried through a whole line-up of their wines? Langhe Chardonnay, Dolcetto d’Alba, Barbera d’Alba, Nebbiolo d’Alba and Barolo.  Their wines exhibit elegance wrapped in a balance of tradition and modern technique.

Use of Oak

Our conversation over lunch led to a discussion about their use of oak. Enzo Brezza is the family’s fourth generation winemaker.  He commented they sell their old barrels to port and whiskey producers once the barrels have maxed at around 11 years.

(this is Enzo)

Several generations ago barrels were used for upwards of 40 to 60 years.  The older oak barrels would basically dry up and impart dry tannins into the wine.  When used with the tannic nebbiolo grape the practice lead to a gripping experience on the palate, a wine stripped of its fruit and problems with volatile acidity.

Due to its high tannins, a Barolo once required a good 20 years of bottle age before it was even approachable, and 30 to 40 years for optimum maturity.   That said today you can enjoy the wine much earlier due, in part, to the region’s updated use of oak.

Consumption and Wine Quality

Where oak practices have modernized, so too have levels of consumption.  Enzo commented that several generations ago agricultural workers used wine as food.  They would each drink roughly a liter of wine a day out in the fields, which gave them energy.

Wine produced during that time was made with quantity in mind, which greatly lowered alcohol levels and the overall intensity of the wine.

Consumption today, however, is much lower than it once was.  As well, the introduction of new technologies including the use of stainless steel tanks, temperature-controlled fermentation and defined single vineyards has increased the overall quality of wine in the region.

I leave you with a few pictures I took:

Above:Taken on our way into town

Above: The beautiful landscape

This biker happened to randomly show up in one of my photos during our drive into town!

If you plan to visit Piedmont, I highly recommend contacting Paolo.  You’ll have the chance to meet some amazing people while there.  You might even be lucky enough to visit the Brezza boys…

Lead image courtesy of Azienda Agricola Brezza Giacomo e Figli.  Photo of Enzo boldly borrowed from The Wandering Palate, a blog worth checking out. Video and bottom images taken by my Flipcam, which I adore.

The International Society of Africans in Wine (ISAW) has a great story to tell.  They have just landed in Cape Town after an exciting U.S. tour featuring African music, food and wine, while raising money and awareness to create opportunities for Africans in the country’s billion dollar wine industry.

Fresh from the effects of apartheid, which ended in 1994, South Africa boasts just two African families who own wineries in that country. ISAW is set to change things up by helping to reduce poverty and create economic opportunities in Africa through the business of wine.

I covered ISAW back in March and had a chance to meet up with Founder Stephen Satterfield during his recent stop in Seattle.

His story of how he created ISAW is inspiring and will open your eyes to how wine is being used for the greater good of humanity.

Here’s the interview!

Tell us about the ‘Drink Well, Do Good Tour’ and the cities you’ve visited.

The ‘Drink Well, Do Good Tour’ is a multi-city, international tour of mainly food and wine events and concerts.  It’s put on by our foundation ISAW to raise money and awareness for our cause, which is to use wine as a way to reduce poverty in South Africa.  The tour started in New Orleans and is traveling through cities across the country including Austin, San Francisco, Eugene, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, Chicago, Boston, New York, Washington D.C., Detroit, and Atlanta.  The final destination is in Capetown, South Africa.

Talk a little bit about South Africa’s history and why this tour is so important to the country.

The thing that people should know about South African wines is that the industry there is 350 years old.  So it’s not considered a new world growing region, actually in fact it’s pretty old world.  And the industry itself was founded on slave labor after colonization took place.  The by-product of that has been many generations of disenfranchised indigenous workers.  So what our vision is, is to use this thriving industry that is creating wealth for so many others and to train the workers to move freely from focusing on just grape picking to other facets of the wine industry where they can expand their footprint and have a better life for themselves and their families.  Hence the ‘Drink Well, Do Good Tour’.  So we’re working with and promoting primarily two families- one is M’hudi and the other one is Seven Sisters.  They are the first and the second, respectively, black owned vineyards in South Africa.

With this tour you are looking to raise money for a school to be built in South Africa?

That’s right.  So in addition to raising awareness with this tour these events are set up to raise money to begin construction on a viticultural center in Stellenbosch which will actually be on the M’hudi Estate.  So there’s a really cool, symbolic partnership that’s happening there as well.

So how did you get your start in the wine industry?

I went to a culinary school in Portland and thought about being a chef, and then thought better about it (laughs) after I had to work in some kitchens.  But I was really inspired by the wine industry during the time that I spent in Portland.  Of course, the Willamette Valley is an incredible wine region.  And then from there I moved to Atlanta a couple years ago.  I knew I wanted to stay involved in the wine industry but also to have an opportunity to increase the well-being for others.  ISAW has been a unique opportunity and I’ve been at it for about 2 years now.

What is your connection to South Africa?  How did you get involved with the wine industry there and what led you to create the ISAW Foundation?

I don’t have a reason to be involved with South Africa other than I was really taken aback by the socio-economic landscape of the wine industry there.  I was a sommelier at the time and I know that there’s not many African Americans in the wine business in any capacity.  When I learned about the M’hudi and Seven Sisters families in South Africa I actually went over there and met them first hand.  After that visit it became very clear in my mind that this was the project I wanted to take on, indefinitely.

It’s been hard.  I mean it’s not easy. Starting a small business is not easy, philanthropy is not easy, film production is not easy, educating people about social issues is not easy.  I could go on and on.  The cause and message is not easy to get across, but we’ve created the ‘Drink Well, Do Good’ part of the message which we’ve tried to make easy.  We are trying to become better at getting people to understand why it’s important for South Africans to have access to education.

It sounds like you’re educating people about the South African Wine Industry in a really positive way.  Can you talk a little about the performances and events you’ve done on this tour?

First of all I should say that we will do this again next year, or if not next year, certainly in the future.  It’s been a really great way to engage people by meeting their interests as food and wine lovers, or as music lovers.  So the groups that we have in Seattle are Afrobeat groups- the headliner is The Chicago Afrobeat Project who have been on tour with us since San Francisco.  So you’re talking like 4 or 5 piece music sections, heavy percussion, lots of rhythm, fun high-energy music.  So the concerts have been alot of fun.  Depending on the region and the market in each town is how we bill the concert, and we focus on music with African roots to fit into the context of the tour.

(Wanna check out some concert footage?)

(this video distributed by Tubemogul)

For those of us who want to support your mission, how can we donate to ISAW?

Thanks for asking!  We are a 501c3 so that is a way that we keep gas in the tank so to speak in tour language.  You can go to the ISAW Foundation homepage and you’ll find a really big icon that says “Make a Donation” at the bottom of the page.  Click on that and we have alot of different opportunities to donate.  People can start at $5 on up.  We understand that everyone has different abilities to donate.

How can people follow what you’re doing and stay informed on ISAW’s progress?

So all our communication is very transparent.  We have a blog which I’ve been updating on the tour at ToastAfrica.com/blog.  We’ll always keep people informed on what’s happening with the Foundation through our newsletter, and if you want to receive our newsletter go to ISAWfoundation.org.  You can also send me an email- I’m at isawstephen@gmail.com.  You’ll also find tons of information and video footage of the tour on our Facebook page. We really try to use social media to get our information out there.

If you would like to hear more from Stephen, check out this video!

(video distributed by Tubemogul)

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Something to keep your eye out for… While at the concert in Seattle I caught up with Danielle Bernstein, an award-winning film maker out of New York City.  She is creating a documentary of the tour set to be released next fall.  As well, once the viticultural center is opened in South Africa she plans to document the life of a student from their first day of class through the creation of their own winery.

Cheers!

“It seems to be so close, just a few steps from the shape of Etna.  On a sunny day, I think I could touch it, walking between the rows.  Etna is part of my family, as all these grapes and our wines are.  Etna knows our history, it saw us, my sons and me, building the winery, almost hidden for not to look away the beautiful landscape.  This winery is like us.  Outside it is discreet and quiet, inside it is colorful and passionate, a meeting place, a combination of tradition and creativity.  It is our home, our life, our future.”

- Antonino Vivera

An organic producer, the Vivera brand comes from the last name of the family who own Sicilian vineyards in Corleone, Mt. Etna and Gulfi Chiaramonte.  I had a chance to visit the Mt. Etna winery on my recent trip to Italy.  The winery was built just 5 years ago and features an array of beautifully balanced wines with a roundness created from the hot Sicilian sun.

Rosario Greco was my tour guide for the day.  His official title with Vivera is ‘Direttore Commerciale’ and he did a fantastic job navigating through the constraints of our language barrier.

Check us in action here:

Yes, his English was fantastic!

He spoke with pride about Sicily’s vineyards and the potential of Mt Etna’s soils, saying that Etna is like an island on an island and its wines compete in quality with Piedmont and Tuscany.

In fact, this is what The Wine Enthusiast recently had to say about the region:

“No other wine region in Italy is as exciting as Mt. Etna right now. In just a few years, the number of winemakers on the volcano has doubled… All the important Sicilian producers today are incomplete without an Etna component…The delicate wines of Etna often draw comparison to Burgundy and Barolo. Nerello Mascalese, the principle indigenous variety of the volcano delivers brass knuckles in a silken glove.”

Mt. Etna is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and boasts several microclimates impressively suited for viticulture.  The Vivera winery is located near the town of Linguaglossa and this area is considered to have some of the most promising vineyard sites on Etna.  The specific vineyard we visited featured two soil types- ancient riverbed and volcanic.

They are also located next to a phylloxera resistant vineyard.  Woot!

Vivera plants the indigenous Nerello Mascalese, and blends it with grape varieties Nerello Cappuccio and Cabernet Sauvignon from their Corleone Vineyard.  Tasting through their line-up I was impressed with their roundness, bright acidity and lifted aromatics.  Rosario pulled a wine for me that will be released to the public in a year that had some of the most beautiful floral notes and elegance I’ve experienced from a Sicilian wine.  They also feature white wines with indigenous grapes Carricante and Catarratto, and blend with Chardonnay.

A young operation, Vivera boasts winemakers Giovanni Dimastrogiovanni and Irene Vaccaro, both under 30, who use organic techniques in the vineyard and winery.  They employ stainless steel fermentation and a subtle touch of oak aging on their reds and sur lie aging with their whites.

Vivera is not currently available in the U.S. market and they are seeking an importer to pick them up.  Keep an eye out for this exciting producer as I’m sure you will be hearing more about them in the near future.

All images and video were taken by my Flipcam, which I adore.

Wine has been produced in Arizona since the 16th century when Spanish missionaries planted vines and made wine for Christian ceremonies.

There has since been much experimentation throughout the state.  Yet with just one American Viticultural Area- the Sonoita AVA, located south of Tuscon- the state is just getting started in producing wine on a world-class level.

In this interview you will meet one of Arizona’s winemakers who is launching the state’s wine industry into the fine wine scene.

Eric Glomski is an ecologist who has been planting in a rather undiscovered region of Arizona, near Sedona, and has an in-depth understanding of the region’s micro-climates and soil types.

You will learn about the diversity of Arizona’s terroir, the experimentation currently going on with different grape varieties, and the role that Maynard Keenan from Tool is playing in pioneering Arizona’s wine industry.

I chose to split the interview into three short clips so you could simply jump from one topic to the next.  Enjoy!

The Diversity of Arizona Terroir from Cheri Walters on Vimeo.

Hot Varietals in Sunny Arizona from Cheri Walters on Vimeo.

Working with Maynard Keenan from Cheri Walters on Vimeo.

Eric Glomski got his start in winemaking as an apprentice in California, eventually taking on the role of Co-Winemaker at David Bruce Winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains.  His passion for winemaking brought him to northern Arizona where in 2003 he created Page Spring Cellars and Vineyards.

In 2007 Eric and Maynard Keenan, lead singer for Tool and owner of Caduceus Cellars, partnered to launch Arizona into the fine wine scene under the name Arizona Stronghold Vineyards.  Their philosophy is one of respect for the land and the knowledge that top quality fruit is the key to fine winemaking.  Check out their documentary “Blood Into Wine” to learn more about their role in the Arizona wine industry.