Getting to know Porto, Portugal

Written by Allison Levine on January 2, 2018

Travel Lifestyle Food Wine

This story originally appeared in the Napa Valley Register.

To me, the best way to get to know a county and its culture is through its food and wine. Local ingredients and dishes, the indigenous grape varieties and winemaking processes, they all tell so much about a culture, its history and present-day. So, on my first trip to Portugal, specifically to the city of Porto, I dove right in.

Located in Northern Portugal, along the Douro river, Porto is the second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. From the cobblestone streets to the tiled houses to the food and wine, it is no wonder that Porto was classified as a Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 1996 and recently awarded The Best European Destination by the Best European Destinations Agency.

Porto is flanked by the Atlantic Ocean on the west and the vineyards in the Douro to the east. The cuisine of Porto uses its natural resources, which include fresh seafood and meats. And there are the sweet desserts, many of which are made with what was described to me as just “sugar, sugar, sugar and eggs, eggs, eggs.”

Please The Palate Pick of the Week: Colheita Port

Written by Allison Levine on December 16, 2017

Lifestyle Wine

I spent the past week eating and drinking my way through Porto and the Douro in northern Portugal. There were so many wonderful wines, from still white and red Douro wines to the famous and historical Ports, both ruby and tawny. But at each and every tasting, the one wine that stole my heart was the Colheita and that is why it is the Please the Palate Pick of the week.

Port can be ruby or tawny. Ruby Ports, whether young, reserve, LBV or vintage, tend to be more fruit driven as they do not age in oak. A tawny port is a port that is aged in wood so that oxygen flows through resulting in the loss of color and the development of different flavors. Tawny Port is available in 10 Year, 20 Year, 30 Year, 40 Year and Colheita, an aged Tawny Port made with grapes from a single vintage.

“Colheita” means “harvest” in Portuguese. Colheitas are required by law to mature in wooden casks for at least seven years, although it can be much longer. The wine is bottled when the producer feels it is ready to drink. Read More +

The Porto Wine Brotherhood

Written by Allison Levine on November 16, 2016

Lifestyle Wine

This story originally appeared in the Napa Valley Register.

In 1983, while working at The Water Club in New York, Roy Hersh was introduced to the 1963 Sandeman Port. Sommelier Sam Correnti had purchased the 1963 Sandeman Port and “whenever he opened a bottle, he would call me in for the decanting,” Hersh recalled.

Correnti would decant the Port, pouring it through a cheesecloth to catch the sediment. “He would take the cheese cloth, with the sediment, and strain some into my mouth.” Tasting this 20-year old Vintage Port, Hersh was hooked.

Hersh, who holds both culinary and hospitality degrees and has worked in the restaurant industry in New York, Colorado, Virginia, Washington DC, Miami and Washington, spent the next 11 years saving up money to go overseas for the first time. His first trip was to Portugal in May 1994 and since then he has been more than 30 times.

Throughout this time, Hersh promoted Port wine, introducing it to many restaurants on both coasts, hosting tastings, and in 2000, Hersh began writing about Port and Madeira for the website WineLoversPage.com.

As a leading promoter of Port wine, Hersh was inducted into the Confraria do Vinho do Porto, or Porto Wine Brotherhood, in 2003. Hersh was one of only two Americans enthroned that year.

The Confraria do Vinho do Porto was established in November 1982 to promote Port wine, the sweet red, fortified wine produced exclusively in the Douro Valley in the northern provinces of Portugal. The Brotherhood recognizes those who work in Port wine companies as well as journalists, retailers and advocates who work to share their passion for Port wine both locally and internationally.