Portuguese Douro Wines – Episode #232

May 7, 2007

Wines tasted in this episode:

Gary has been talking up Portugal, today 3 VERY highly rated wines step up and get challenged.

Having trouble seeing this video? Click here for the Quicktime version

115 Responses

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May 8, 2007

Tom T.
QOTD – an Orwellian micro-chipped population.
May 8, 2007

ken
Nice episode. I have been singing the praises of Portugal table wines for a long time now. These are wines that I will have to seek out. In the meantime, a nice lower priced wine from Portugal is Quinta de Roriz, Prazo de Roriz. This wine DOES need some time and is not really ready for consumption now unless decanted at length. WL does not carry this wine but you should look into it.

I could be wrong about this, but I did not think that Mark Squires wrote for the Wine Advocate. However, he does run the ebob website which is a part of the Robert Parker Empire. As a non-subscriber to TWA I could easily be wrong about this â€“ Iâ€™m not wrong often but I could be wrong about this? Pleases let me know. Squires does write his own reviews which can be seen here:

http://marksquires.com/

QOTD: I am one of the most technologically savvy people around but it does concern me when people rely too much on the internet and other forms of technology with the belief that they will be able to accomplish everything that they want to Also, many of the new cars rely too much on complex electronics. In the future, the police will require you to go to a checking station where they can download stats about your driving habits and thus, write speeding tickets retroactively. Overall, technology is a great thing and makes life much easier.
May 8, 2007

Capt M
BTW, excellent episode about wines that are unknown to most of us. THANKS!
May 8, 2007

Capt M
QOTD: my concern is all the time that it takes up from my daily routine. My fear is not been able to distribute my time adequately and allowing technology to distract me too much from my daily choirs. Something I try to watch out for. Other than that, it’s all fun and part of our lives. Don’t want to fall behind either.
May 8, 2007

Susan
That word would be interefers.
May 8, 2007

Susan
Gary-
Super ep!
QOd:
I love and embrace technology
except
when it interfers with
actually speaking to one another.
If you use
technology that is no excuse to be a
jerk!
In others words, if you can use technology to be nice
and not a jerk and it helps interactions between people-
GO FOR IT!!!
May 8, 2007

GlassRunnethEmpty
QOTD: Technology is a good thing. Things such as Twitter are a nice-to-have utility for someone who needs it. I personally don’t see the need for 24×7 contact using Twitter. Aside from the community aspect of Twitter, I’m not sure there’s a difference between it and any other web based text messaging.

For my life as it exists today, Twitter is a Pazzzzzzzzzzzz. I would suggest that for you, perhaps just leave the phone alone during taping and pick it up near the end of the show and answer the Qs….otherwise it becomes an annoying distraction to everyone.
May 8, 2007

Michael Palmer
And I great show on the Portugal wines. That is what wine library is about. Learning about new wines and regions.
May 8, 2007

Michael Palmer
I could agree more strongly with Comment 14 By Garret Nagle. Ditto Garret.
May 8, 2007

Steve-o
QOTD: The increasing use of technology is utterly inevitable and must simply be taken for what it is. Tech, like all things new, can be both helpful and hindering relative to everyday life. The intention is always helpful, yet the implementation can be more than frustrating for those who are not either willing to experiment or already fluent with the idea.

I suppose my point is that with technology, like wine, we must be open minded and willing to take chances while at the same time decidedly avoiding dependance.

My sincerest apologies for my flagrant use of the “royal we”.
May 8, 2007

Gregg Johnson
QOTD –
I honor technology, yes it’s a good thing. Good in a way that makes for a better society. Better in that it allows us to communicate practically in real time. Communication is the key to exploring where we are, extracting where we are from where we’ve been, so that we can move ahead into future technologies which are inevitable. This being the case do not attempt to stifle that which races towards you like a runaway train. Embrace technology my friend. It is your master, as well as your servant, and it will harness you until the day of your death.

Raise a glass of new wine to technology!
May 8, 2007

KC Dan
Thanks for the portugal ep Gman . I will have to try one soon . Qotd Big Brother !!
May 8, 2007

wm mole
GV brother, (as Hulk Hogan would say) way to keep things interesting with your rollout of Portuguese pleasures in a bottle. Also, bring on more of those sideroad food pairings, I’ll try it, at least once… Love the mac/cheese ep and the exotic recipes(especially the one with whiskey)
QOTD: I love tasting with you online and thanks to technology for that, but you can bet the Jets it would more fun in person.
May 8, 2007

JOEinLA
…funny thing about technology. More and more I find that people’s social skills are diminishing and thier thumbs and fingers do the talking. People won’t even say hello to each other anymore but they would jump on line a have intimate conversations with strangers. Hide behind the screen!~

What we need are the town squares of Europe~!
May 8, 2007

JOEinLA
By the time I get to see this, the great wine is sold out…and twitter is a waste for me. Honestly, a big distraction and not an added bonus. We come here to watch you review and play the role on WLTV. I’ll go to the Forums if I want to know what the rest have to say…and I like it there by the way.

Thanks for enlightening me on Portugal.
May 8, 2007

tarheel17
As someone who will never be watching an episode when you air (you taped the show at 7:30 am my time!), I am, sadly, probably not the best judge of the value of Twitter.
Regardless, I love your enthusiasm and drive to make WLTV more interactive, and I’m sure it will work out for the best eventually, whether you Tweedle-dee or Tweedle-dum. I’ll still watch! I love the Portugal episodes. . .maybe one in the lower price range soon?. . .I’ve already blown my Birthday Money on a case of wine, and I don’t turn 30 until August!
May 8, 2007

Wildebeest
QOTD: concerns!? I say, BRING ON THE TECHNOLOGY! It don’t scare me none. Though I do wish I didn’t have to devise a new password for every single new service I want to use. It seems like soon I’ll have hundreds of passwords and login IDs to remember.
May 7, 2007

Herm
Qotd: Sun spots
May 7, 2007

Malarkey
happy birthday to me OK, after that shameless self promotion, I’m gonna ’seek out’ that there Douro wine.

I agree with the above: the twitter thing is fine, but turn the vibe function off.

happily drinking puligny-montrachet,
malarkey
May 7, 2007

Jen
QOTD: I love technology, and I love all the cool things we can do nowadays, but sometimes I get bogged down with the neurosis it conjurs.. Like, I’m always thinking about email, voicemail, MySpace. Twitter, Cork’d, texting– EVERYTHING all the time. I’m worried if I don’t get a return email, worried about who’s looking at my profile, who’s calling, knowing who’s calling because of caller I.D. then choosing to answer or not answer and WHY, when I post a video is it stupid?, do people think my pictures are cool? Am I sending the write email message and did I capture the proper tone? TIVO: am I missing something? Are the shows I programmed to tape REALLY taping? When will I watch this, that, the other!?!?! It’s all wonderful and I’m so glad we have it but if I think on it sometimes I want to go live in a hut somewhere on an island like on Lost, except without the freaky black cloud or the Others…… Good question, Vay Vay – can you tell I’m a little passionate about it?
May 7, 2007

Martin
I drove a BMW 750i last week; all of its’ computing power was distracting and only took away from the enjoyment rather than enhancing it. On the other hand, Wine Library TV is a great utilization of technology!
May 7, 2007

Boston Ben
As with all high-end episodes, I rushed out to look for… the low-end QPR versions. I first found out after accidentally typing “Duro” into google that Hoover has an unbelievable value-for-your-money Duro vacuum cleaner. And there were some high-value things called “Disco Duro,” described in another language (?! I got excited for a minute, foolishly thinking that I had discovered “Disco Douro”). After I cleaned up my search engine act, I found there are many academics with Douro in their name, in diverse fields such as plant sciences and sociology, all of whom provide better value than those pesky Portuguese wines. Talk about under the radar! Any suggestions for QPR Douro from folks? I’ve seen Lavradores de Feitoria mentioned, and that’s actually available at my local store.

The Gewurtz-Pasta pairing reminds me of my greatest recent pairing discovery: Rioja and Corn Dogs. Try it, and you will thank me. It will totally knock your socks off.

QOTD: So I’m on Twitter now, but gettin’ updates on the phone would be a little too much! I already have work that tries to suck all of the spare time out of my life – yah have to hide from your technology a bit. I also have to pay for text messages over the first hundred or so!
May 7, 2007

JoÃ£o Pedro Carvalho
Aleluia… Portuguese wine in WineLibraryTv.

Just a tip: Quinta da GAIVOSA not GAVIOSA and QUINTA VALE DONA MARIA… not DE MARIA

You must try a Touriga Nacional varietal.

And welcome to the Portuguese Wines
May 7, 2007

Darlene O.
Love the episode on Portugal, Gary. QOD: Not a big tech gal. My profession doesn’t require techy knowledge and so I’ve never felt the pressure to succumb.
May 7, 2007

njbabs
Duro, boo yeah. I’ve wondering about the Portuguese. Seeing as I love so much of what Spain puts out, I’ve always felt that Portugal would be a clear winner. now i just need to wait for my wine budget to open up…