Text José Silva | Translation Bruno Ferreira

Out of all capitals of the old Europe, London surely stands out as the place where the great wines of the world pass by. A kind of stock market of wines which flow there from all corners of the world.

They are thoroughly observed, tasted, tested, evaluated and finally stamped by a class of tasters of which are part some of the many elites, such as “Masters of Wine” and “Masters Sommeliers”. Then its the sort of intense demand by the wine shops, gourmet stores, restaurants, wine bars and some supermarket chains – a very wide market that is continuing to show its will to taste new and different things.

The Portuguese wines are no exception, well-known and appreciated among those tasters and critics, taking part in the various tastings and exhibits that take place throughout the year in the British capital. That’s why it’s sad that that does not translate into higher sales of our wines in the United Kingdom market. We’re lacking that one “click” to take our quality Portuguese wines to the large British public and consequently improve significantly our sales, in an ever so-demanding and fascinating market.

Recently another tasting took place, very well organised by ViniPortugal, with the presence of over 120 producers and plenty of tastings organised by the many distributors that import Lusitanian wines. The producers took the opportunity to show new wines or new harvests, trying to improve its dissemination and, consequently, the sales, signing new contracts or confirming existing ones.

Such was the case of a Portuguese Douro producer, Quinta de Cottas, that was able to renew the contract he already had with British Airways, updating the wine served aboard that company’s planes, from the 2010 harvest to the 2011. It’s another input on the Portuguese wines acceptance in the difficult British market. The restaurant sector has also been trying its luck in London, whether it be because they go there in search of an opportunity or because they were already living there and wanted to try this market, where in spite of all there’s not a great choice of quality.

Among the many other choices in old Albion, there’s a small restaurant and wine bar in Covent Garden, which goes by the name “Canela” (Cinnamon), and serves Portuguese wines and delicacies from our country and is achieving quite some success.

It has a fair choice of Portuguese wines and plenty of delicacies that are getting good feedback from that space’s customers. Over there we met with Jamie Goode for a fun lunch.

When I asked for a “Guinness” beer they told me they only had “Sagres” and “Superbock” beer, way to go!

Jamie Goode chose a “Vadio” 2013 white that showed itself great, full of freshness, simple and tasty. Accompanied by ham and some cheeses, along with tasty bread.

Then we had codfish pataniscas and grilled chorizo, which were already asking for a red.

Jamie Goode also chose the red, a “Lagar de Darei” 2011, sober, captivating, and quite interesting.

In the evening, in a conversation with Sarah Ahmed, finding ourselves around some Australian white wine bottles, we made the comparison between these two worlds: the Australian wines are everywhere.

But in London there are also some iconic locations serving and selling wines from all over the world, that in spite of having Portuguese wines, its choice is limited, sometimes inexistent even. So there’s the need of placing there more Portuguese wines to be tasted and bought by an audience that’s getting more and more interested.

One of such places is “The Sampler” in South Kensington, offering a selection of 1500 wines from all over the world, many of them from small producers which can be tasted and bought there, including some Portuguese wines.

In another part of the town, in Mayfair, we find an absolutely fantastic wine shop, Hedonism Wines. Elegant, exquisite, climatized, huge, and extraordinarily well-organised. A place where we can find everything, literally everything, from all over the world.

 

Ranging from €8 bottles to €15.000 rarities. Yes, that’s right, €15.000 per bottle.

Over there, there are also some good Portuguese wines.

We can find Portuguese wines in restaurants, bars, wine bars and gourmet shops, even though with limited choice. Something that does not do justice to the fame and rising quality that they have been getting among international critique. So, it’s time to take a leap forward, to provide more visibility to our wines and to put them in the most iconic places of the British capital. And even if being producers already with tradition, why not do it in a fun way…

Here at Blend we’ll keep fighting for that, and we remain available to support any type of actions that might help.
After all, London is right around the corner, two hours away…
Cheers!