Wines of Portugal (Canada) 2023

On June 1, having arrived at the very convenient venue located inside the Royal Ontario Museum 😊,

we started our visit by having an assortment of appetizers. Immediately after, we decided to take the plunge right into the deep end and start at the Sogrape booth with some rose port wine (Sandeman Beat Portonic Rose) that was perfect for the hot summer day, happening outside the walls. Then, moved on to the Sandeman Porto Founder's Reserve, a deep red colored port with lots of cherry notes. Subsequently, we felt emboldened to also try the Sandeman Porto Tawny 20 Year Old Port, a lighter colored port with deep honey notes. 

We decided to move back to food in order to increase the appetite for more tasting afterward. Not far was the Restaurant Pompette counter with hors d'oeuvres that paired well (we found out later) with most of the whites on hand.

We then washed down the delicious food we just had with the Portal da Calçada Cuvée Prestige, a very refreshing Espumante de Vinho Verde by Calçada Wines.

Our next target was the Lagosta Vinho Verde white by enoport wines, e very refreshing, slightly bubbly wine. They also had a rose which we did not sample.

From enoport we also tried the Cabeça de Toiro Reserva, a 2022 white with deep floral notes. 

Our attention then shifted to some very cool wine in cans by Barcos Wines, such as the 80's Vinho Verde white and Estreia rose, that are perfect for taking to a picnic on a sunny summer day. 


If you want to try another rose, you can have the Dona Maria Rose by Dona Maria - Julio Bastos. We sampled it and liked it a lot.


For an excellent collection of bubblies we tried the Marquês de Marialva series by Adega de Cantanhede starting with the lightest bodied Blanc de Blancs Brut to the fullest bodied Blanc de Noirs Cuvée Brut passing through the Baga Rose Brut and the Blanc de Noirs Brut.


For a spicy (i.e. peppery) dessert red that goes well with sweet pastries, we sampled the Moscatel de Setubal by Casa Ermelinda Freitas, our favorite wine in the tasting.


We decided to stay with dessert wines and we sampled the Alambre Moscatel de Setubal and the Alambre 20 anos by José Maria da Fonseca. These have deep cherry notes with the 20 anos also having some subtle cinnamon notes.


We closed out tasting not with a wine but with Aguardiente Velha, back at the Barcos Wines booth, a crisp, dry, clean addition to an already exquisite beverage lineup. 








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