Good Portugal Wine Guide Now Out

Wine and Food Lover's Guide to Portugal is by Two Top Wine Experts

Oct 19, 2008

The Wine and Food Lover's Guide to Portugal by experts Charles Metcalfe and Kathryn McWhirter covers vineyards, restaurants, shops and hotels in Portuguese wine country.

Portuguese wines are often under-rated, and these authors are determined to remind readers just how good the finest of the country's wines can be. Their handsome full-color 446-page hardback book is the result of years of traveling in Portugal, tasting its wine, and eating its food. They wrote their first book about Portuguese wine over 20 years ago. What they don't know about Portuguese wine and vineyards isn't worth knowing.

In a wine world dominated by about half a dozen countries, it's easy to overlook the fine wines being produced in many other countries worldwide. One of these is undoubtedly Portugal. For many wine drinkers, the only Portuguese wine they could name would be Mateus Rosé, which has been popular for decades as a 'safe' choice for people who are not too adventurous.

Yet Portugal has many fine wine producing districts, including the Douro Valley, which has the oldest wine appellation system in the world and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Portugal is also the home of Port, of Moscatel wines, and a huge variety of distinctive dry whites and reds: distinctive because of the unusual indigenous grape varieties.The Atlantic islands of Madeira and the Azores also add their own unique flavors to the range of Portuguese wines.

Visiting Vineyards

Anyone planning to visit a few Portuguese vineyards will find the book indispensable, and there is no false modesty from the authors when they say that: 'Ours is the best wine mapping of Portugal to date'. Not only that, the vineyards and their wines are described in loving detail, the lengthy and very personal descriptions followed by all the practical details: address, phone, website, email, opening hours, any charges, and whether you need to make an appointment.

It's a comprehensive encyclopaedia of Portuguese wine and, as Oz Clarke says in his Foreword: 'Just what Portugal needs.' But it is more, much more, than just a book for vineyard visitors.

The Wine Guide as Guidebook

Although the book is primarily a wine and food guide, it is also a very good general guidebook to Portugal. There are 22 pages devoted to Lisbon, for instance, including a decent map, many atmospheric photographs, an evocative description of the Portuguese capital, details of its main tourist attractions, information on public transport, and a list of the city's fairs and festivals. This is followed by six pages of in-depth restaurant reviews, including cafés, bars, and places where you can hear fado. Markets, and wine and food shops are also covered in detail, and the chapter ends with three pages of lively and helpful hotel reviews.

Popular holiday destinations like Porto, the Azores, Madeira, and the Algarve, are also covered fairly thoroughly, and while the book isn't an alternative to a more detailed guide like the Rough Guide or Lonely Planet, it has a surprising amount of information beyond its food and drink coverage.

The Authors

Charles Metcalfe is one of the best-known wine critics in Britain, appearing frequently on television and in print. He is also co-chairman of London's annual International Wine Challenge, and was one of the founders of Wine International magazine.

Kathryn McWhirter was the editor of Wine and Spirits magazine, and for nine years was the drinks correspondent for the Independent on Sunday. She wrote and edited the Which? Wine Guide and Good Wine Bar Guide, and reviewed wine lists for the Good Food Guide.

Together the authors shared the 2008 Louis Roederer International Wine Writer's Awards for Wine Book of the Year for the Wine and Food Lover's Guide to Portugal.

Free Sample

Ordering Information

The Wine and Food Lover's Guide to Portugal costs £16.95 in the UK and $29.93 in the USA. It is available from Amazon and other online bookstores, in bookshops, and directly from the Inn House Publishing website.

More About Portuguese Wine

The copyright of the article Good Portugal Wine Guide Now Out in Portuguese Wine/Port is owned by Mike Gerrard. Permission to republish Good Portugal Wine Guide Now Out in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.