Travel Guide to Portugal

Spanish Wine

Harvesting in the Priorat: Fermentation I – Maceration Techniques

A friend of ours Raymond Magourty (Raymondo) is working the 2009 harvest in Priorat, Catalunya for Celler Mas Doix, a prestigious wine producer located in the villlage of Poboleda whose Parker Points have elevated it in popularity. With his background in wine education, and ambition to learn more about the practicalities of wine-making, the winery

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Harvesting in the Priorat 2009: Differentiating Grape Varieties

A friend of ours Raymond Magourty (Raymondo) is working the 2009 harvest in Priorat, Catalunya for Celler Mas Doix, a prestigious wine producer located in the villlage of Poboleda who’s Parker Points have elevated it in popularity. With his background in wine education, and ambition to learn more about the practicalities of wine-making, the winery

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Harvesting in the Priorat 2009: Wine Tourists, Wine Festivals and Grape Picking

Recently, a friend of ours Raymond Magourty, was given the opportunity to work the harvest for a Mas Doix, a prestigious wine producer in the town of Poboleda who’s recent Parker Points have elevated it in popularity, is located in the Priorat. With his background in wine, and desire to learn more about about the

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Fondillón: A Very Unique Style of Sweet Spanish Wine from Alicante

Coming across Fondillón is a bit like meeting Samuel Taylor Coleridge‘s Ancient Mariner, buttonholing you with stories of ancient glories and disaster. You’re half fascinated and half disbelieving. Yet he starts pulling bits and pieces out of his pockets – there is the price list of leading Alicante wine merchants Maisonnave & Co. from the

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Annual Medieval Festival in Vic, Catalunya: The Culture of Vi Calent or Mulled Wine

Last year, we hinted that we were going to be attending our first Medieval Festival in Vic, located north of Barcelona approximately 70 km, but we never let you in on the experience. Vic is the capital of the region Osona, nestled alongside the once beautiful Meder River. Now, unfortunately, the fumes that float up

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Wild Mushrooms of Catalunya

Prior to my arrival on the Peninsula, my experience with wild mushrooms were both infrequent and rather tame. Having lived in Illinois, New Mexico, Colorado and Minnesota, my knowledge of mushrooms solely consisted of cute little button white mushrooms bought in the grocery store that had a slightly sweet flavor eaten raw, and when cooked,

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Exquisite Harmonies: Matching Iberian Wines with China’s Great Cuisines

Not a great deal has been written on what is admittedly the relatively new area of pairing international wines with Chinese cuisine. Or should that be Chinese cuisines? This vast country, now in the grips of the Olympics at last, boasts an incredible array of provincial and regional dishes, embracing just about every cooking technique

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