On this morning in 2007 16 years ago, I woke up, went to my laptop, and checked out my new blog. It was almost like a dream: I started at 10pm the night before, the Saturday of the time change which gave me a magical extra hour, and I used it to create “Art Predator.” My family couldn’t believe what I had done. It’s hard to believe where I am now–packing for a press trip to Portugal once again!

The following June, I was hired by an international wine company to write and blog for them, but as the 2008 recession hit, the job fell through before it even started. Since I’d quit my adjunct college teaching job, I was unemployed, and I decided that I’d work on my blogging anyway. I attended my first WordPress WordCamp in San Francisco, decided to start a blog called “Wine Predator,”and went to the first Wine Bloggers Conference (now Wine Media Conference) in Santa Rosa. There I connected with wine bloggers and wine industry professionals which opened up opportunities to attend trade tastings, twitter tastings, and receive samples. I attended MacWorld in SF as a member of the press, that summer I attended the second Wine Bloggers Conference, and fall 2009, I was selected to travel to Portugal with Jo Diaz based on a writing sample and that I’d been blogging for two years. 

Who knew 16 years ago when I registered for my Art Predator blog on WordPress that I’d be traveling the world as a wine influencer and blogger? Certainly not me! 

But here I am, on a train in Torino Italy last year, leaving Terra Madre, the international Slow Food Conference where I was on a press pass, and attended two amazing meals.

I spoke at the Wine Media Conference about Slow Wine and Slow Food, and  I went all over Lombardy and to Trentino too!

In June I was in Italy again, on a three week press trip to Abruzzo and Veneto, with a few days before and after in Rome,  a night in Bologna, and three nights in Tuscany learning all about La Maliosa.

Not only traveling, but winning too: in 2019 I competed for Team USA in the World Wine Tasting Championship, and just over a year ago I won the 2022 Jancis Robinson Wine Writing Contest with an essay about regenerative agriculture!

I don’t usually turn the camera on myself. I certainly meet many amazing winemakers and often I think to myself after with regret — why didn’t I get a picture? So today as I’m taking a break from packing again for Portugal, I share a few photos from the past year, and I acknowledge my accomplishments. Let’s celebrate by sharing this Portuguese sparkling wine virtually! Stay tuned and subscribe to Wine Predator to see where I am on the prowl to next! Cheers! 

NV Ortigão Bruto Nektar Sparkling White Wine, Bairrada, Portugal 

ABV: 12.5%
SRP: $10 at Grocery Outlet
Grapes: ?? 
Importer: Plume Ridge

While my press trip to Portugal focuses on the Alentejo region, wine is grown in 14 different areas of Portugal, from the island of Madeira to the Douro in the north, the Algarve in the south and almost everywhere in between as you can see from the map below.

This winery makes wines from international and Portuguese grapes: Sauvignon, Chardonay, Arinto, Bical Maria Gomes for white wines, plus Baga, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz and Cabernet Sauvignon for reds. After growing grapes for many generations, in 2001 the family began making their own wines; Augusto Brandão Alegre was the first to produce sparkling wine in Portugal. 

I enjoyed this wine, and have bought it more than once. It’s a great food wine for the price. 

Appearance:  Yellow, daffodil, a touch of green,  delicate bubbles in the glass, platinum rim with tiny bubbles clinging to the side of the glass. 

Aroma: Lime, meadow flowers, chamomile, a bit of brioche, saltine crackers. 

Palate: Tart lime, lots of salinity, soft foamy bubbles explode in the mid palate, very dry finish with chalky minerals, not very complex but it yearns for food, would be a nice cocktail base, 

Pairing: Fantastic with the salt cured olives and marinated goat cheese.  Awesome with oysters. While I like this wine fine without food, it is transformed when paired going so well with everything on our cheese plate, and fabulous with lime and ginger marinated Seafood Skewers. We love how the grilled lime on the skewer imparts great flavor in the dish, and is so fun with the wine.