Join me on Wednesday July 7th at 3pm ET / 12pm PT on Zoom or Facebook Live for a VeroTalk. I’ll be interviewing Portuguese winemaker Luis Duarte who will be live from the Alentejo wine region in Portugal while his colleague Mafalda will be live from the Duoro.

In the interview, I’ll be asking Luis Duarte about his career and his approach to making sustainable wines as well as tasting three Portuguese wines from wineries Herdade dos Grous and Quinta de Valbom. Herdade dos Grous was the first winery to join WASP, the Wines of Alentejo. Sustainability Program. The three wines are from the Verovinogusto “Portugal Explorer Set” and also Quinta de Valbom’s Late Bottle Vintage Port. 

Luis Duarte lives with his wife Dora Simões and their three children near the beautiful medieval castle of Monsaraz located on a hilltop by the border with Spain in the Alentejo region. In addition to making wine in the Alentejo, he has projects in the northern Portuguese area of the Douro which is famous for Port but today is also known for dry red wines.

Luis began making wine over 30 years ago. During his career, he has earned many accolades including Best Winemaker in Portugal three times in 1997, 2007, and 2014. In 2015 the President of Portugal, Aníbal Cavaco Silva, honored Luis with the Order of Business Merit, in the Agricultural Merit class, and a German magazine named Luis as the Best Winemaker in the World. 

Born in Angola, Luis moved to Portugal at 9. He studied oenology at the University of Trás os Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD), then moved to the Alentejo in 2007. In his career, he has worked with both indigenous Portugeuse grapes and international varieties including Antão Vaz, Arinto, Sémillon, Verdelho, Viognier, Alicante Bouschet, Aragonês, Petit Verdot, Syrah, Touriga Nacional and Tinta Miúda. 

The first wine we’ll discuss during the tasting is a dry white wine blend from Alentejo made with three indigenous Portuguese grapes: Antão Vaz, Arinto, and Gouveio.  While relatively unknown in the US, Antão Vaz is the most popular grape in the Alentejo and brings body and aromatic qualities to the wine. Arinto offers balance and minerality and adds acidity while Gouveio tends toward salt and pepper aromatics. 

Next we’ll taste the Quinta de Valbom dry red wine blend from the Douro which is made from over a dozen different grape varieties from nearly 100 year old vines that were traditionally grown together to be made into Port. 

Our third course is a dessert wine, the Quinta de Valbom Late Bottled Vintage Port which was harvested in 2012 and barrel aged for four years.  

You can purchase the set with shipping included and add on the Port for free shipping. Learn more and RSVP for the event here; you can also order your wines here so you can sip along with us! 

Ventura locals, you can pick up the three Portuguese wines  at the warehouse on Olivas Park Drive across from the golf course. The discount code is IWILLPICKUP and then coordinate to pick up the wine by emailing verovinogusto@gmail.com).

Register on Zoom now for this free event and get it on your calendar!

Meeting Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86899218425?pwd=U1l5ZUNlNjBQWXFxNStnTW9EQmxrdz09

Meeting ID: 868 9921 8425

Passcode: 831819

See you Wednesday on ZOOM!