Day One, Sunday, Sep. 6th- Lisbon Portugal:
Hello from Lisbon, Portugal! I can't believe I'm in Europe and in Portugal of all places. It's a dream come true to say the least. My first wine of my European vacation was at a local restaurant, and the wine I had was called "Planalto", also the name of the winery. The region this wine comes from is Douro and it is a Vinho Branco Seco Reserva 2008.  I found out that this wine is a typical white wine from Portugal and it was exactly what I was looking for. Crisp, clean, refreshing and had flavors of lemon, key lime and custard. It was the perfect white wine to enjoy on a warm summer day. I recommend it for taste and value, if you can find it! The server didn't speak English, so I couldn't find out if the wine was available in the U.S.

My next wine experience was at dinner at a very nice restaurant on the river called "Dona Peixe".  I was treated to the wines of Jose Maria Da Fonseca. No, this is not the Fonseca Port winery or wines. This winery was founded in 1834 and today is one of the best producers of wine in Portugal. I started out the dinner with a white wine - 2008 Domingo Soares Franco Verdelho. Since this wine is not available to purchase in the United States, I won't tease you with a description. Let's just say it was a nice white wine that went very well with mussels and shrimp.

The next wine I had at dinner, which is available for purchase in the U.S., was a 2005 Periquita Reserva. This wine is made from two grapes called Touriga Nacional and Castelao. The wine had aromas and flavors of blueberries, violets, spice, vanilla, chocolate and cherries. The nose reminded me of a Raspberry Tootsie Pop! I really liked this wine and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for the next big and exciting red wine from Europe- move over Malbec, here comes Touriga Nacional.

For dessert, I had a 2003 Domingo's Soares Franco Coleceao Privada Moscatel de Setubal. The Moscatel had flavors and aromas of dried apricot, hazelnut, maple, almond and tangerine. It went perfectly with the local desserts that we ordered.  The night ended with drinking a half bottle or two of Niepoort Tawny port in my hotel room with the group of people that I was traveling with. It was a good day of drinking, eating and laughing to say the least.

Day Two, Monday, Sep. 7th- Azeitao & Douro Valley, Portugal:
I traveled to the nearby town of Azeitao, Portugal today and had the privilege of visiting the Jose Maria Da Fonseca winery. If you ever get a chance to travel to Portugal, I really recommend visiting this winery known for its' rich family history, tradition and the wines are so reasonably priced and delicious as well.  I had too many wines while I was there to mention so I'll keep it to three wines that really made an impression on me.

The first was a Periquita Blanco 2008. This wine was really refreshing, clean and had lots of citrus flavors.  Sadly, this wine is available to purchase at the winery only.

The second wine was another tasting of the 2005 Periquita Reserve that I had enjoyed at dinner the night before - even better the next day!

The third wine that my group and I really liked was a 2005 Domini Plus - a blend of Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franco, Tinta Ruiz, and Tinta Barroca grape varietals. This wine was like drinking a Napa Valley Cabernet. The wine had rich, black fruit flavors of blackberries, cedar, chocolate, balanced and a long finish. The only thing that topped this wine was getting a chance to taste the 2007 vintage at dinner that evening in the Douro Valley. The 2007 Domini Plus was a deeper, richer more expressive version of the 2005 Domini Plus. Needless to say, this was an awesome wine to end a perfect day in the Douro Valley.  I really would have loved to have stayed in Portugal for a few more days, but it's on to Spain later in the afternoon on Tuesday.