A Glowing Review and Eating Blood Sausage with the Quirky People of the Douro

Before we head back to Portugal, I want to let you know that The Seattle Times wine critic, Paul Gregutt, wrote a glowing review of Elemental Importers’ portfolio – highlighting the Domandos Torrontes and the Gozzo Organic Cabernet Sauvignon! This is incredible! He is arguably the most well respected wine writer in the Pacific Northwest, and he is a Contributing Editor of Wine Enthusiast Magazine. This is in addition to him being a heck of a nice guy. Now we have proof that our wine is good. Thank you, Paul! Now go tell your wine shop (or grocery store) to carry it!
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Port. Many people have tried it, but most understandably know nothing about it. Port is confusing. Ruby…Tawny…LBV...drink now…drink in a century…it’s sweet…it’s dry…it’s red…it is white…aaahhh!!! Well, I’m not giving you a lesson on port today because the good ol’ Wikipedia can do it for me. Check it out here. It’s actually really interesting stuff. I’m also not going to tell you what port to try, and what port not to try. Find a local wine shop doing a tasting…and give it a whirl. It’s worth it.

Instead I’ll provide a tasting of some of the surprisingly quirky people we met in the Douro River Valley …the only region in the world that can technically grow grapes for Port. I like to believe that these charming souls add to the beauty of the wine.

I Love the USA!
One winemaker’s 12-year old son asked in broken English, “Where are you from in the USA ?”. “ Seattle .” “I like Coca Cola!” Come to find out, this boy loves the US so much that when his parents voiced less than positive opinions of George W Bush, he got upset and said, “Stop saying bad things about the US president! You don’t know him!”

Eat Your Veggies...Or Else...
That same family had a cook/ nanny that had been the “head” of the household for many years. In the middle of our tasting with the winery staff, I was startled by a strong “Jab! Jab! Jab!” in my side. I turned to see the 4’9” Woman in Charge herding me to the table like a little girl. The staff abruptly stopped the tasting and joined me. Apparently, lunch was ready. As she served the soup, you could feel her loving energy fill the room, but her weathered face told you there would be hell to pay if you didn’t eat all your veggies. Later, I found a little round bruise on my side. It made me smile.

A Food Porn Entrepreneur
The chef/owner of the DOC Restaurant is a flavor genius. I actually enjoyed his blood sausage. His fine collection of Douro wine was an inspiration. And to my delight, he was as quirky as you’d hope a master chef would be. He elegantly helped us decided on each course, but he made sure that we also saw his new cookbook. Filled with arty photos of him standing barefoot in the Douro River with a chef’s coat, this book took food porn to whole new level! And in addition to the countless magazines and books that raving about his food, our attention was turned to a “remarkable new machine” that mixed like Kitchen Aid and heated like a stove top at the same time. And for only 20 installments of $50, we too could own one. He was certainly an entrepreneur.