1.) Food is an event, not a means to an end.
2.) Cured meats before every meal is a tradition I can totally get behind.
3.) Wine at lunch. Need I say more?
4.) Vinho Verde is not effervescent in Portugal, at least not the 10 or so we had.
5.) If you are trying to join the Century Club, Portugal has many native grapes to help you on your way.
6.) A visit to a cork montado is a must.
7.) Even one café after dinner will keep me up all night.
8.) Eating Pasteis de Nata at Casa Pastéis de Belém in Lisbon is essential. (SO GOOD!)
9.) Multi-use agriculture is the norm.
10.) I need to return when it is sunny and soak up all the gorgeous architecture and culture.
I’ll be expanding on some of these in upcoming posts in the next weeks. Suffice it to say for the moment that I had a wonderful trip, learned a lot about Portugal, and very much enjoyed our hosts at Enoforum Wines.
Filed under: Portugal |
Wannabe Wino Wine Blog 
I agree with all the above and I am sure you will add a few more points about the wine in coming posts. I am glad you enjoyed it despite the lack of sun which is very unusual.
Wine for lunch is something that I can get behind!
[…] Top 10 Things I Learned in Portugal (wannabewino.com) […]
Great Top Ten List, Sonadora!
Sounds like you had a great time…fab photos!
I love your numbers 1, 2 and 3! Food IS an event, absolutely! And I am so on to the cured meats thing too lately. Was just reading a piece in the NY Times Travel section today about cured meats in Spain, and salivating over every word and pic. I often make a meal of just cured meats and good cheeses and noting else. Well, nothing else but a great glass of wine! : )
Great list! I really wish that food was more of an event in this culture. My wife and I, and some of our friends, have been trying to make it more of an event in our circle, but our culture is definitely not geared towards making this easy.
I also appreciate number 9. Monocultures are not normal, no matter how things are done in America.
Look forwarding to reading more about your discoveries in Portugal.
You’ve inspired me to do a top 10 list, too, while trying to not duplicate yours. That should be very interesting.
You’ve also inspired me to join the Century Club, not as part of this trip, but your earlier mentions of it. I hadn’t thought about it until I read a mention of it on your blog a while back.
You’ve done a great job with your adventure, and I look forward to your updates. Now you, too, know how great the folks at Enoforum Wines are… Delfim, Luis, Isabel… And did you also meet winemaker José Fonseca for Enoforum?
Sorry for the rain… It IS gorgeous when the sun’s shining. I yearn for spring, because Delfim told Gwendolyn Alley and me that spring flowers are gorgeous. I’d love so see that and photograph it, too.
Welcome back to both you… and your luggage!
We did get to meet Jose, as well as Oscar from Borba and Rui from Carmim. They were all a pleasure, and enhanced the experience of understanding their philosophies behind the wines we were tasting.
Everyone was so wonderful! My fiance and I are enjoying a bottle of the Alem we tasted right now.
[…] her immediate return, Sonadora has just posted her Top 10 Things I Learned in Portugal list. I can’t even imagine how she’s done that. I came back nearly […]
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Portugal has a way of hooking people!