Come for the Wine: Adrian Bridge

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Life on the Douro: Zev Robinson's Documentary Captures the Essence of Place

Although I have never met Zev Robinson, I feel as if I know him. We chat on twitter and always seem to be just one or two weeks behind each other in our travels. Many near misses, but I hope to see him soon at one of the screenings for his new documentary Life on the Douro. Robinson's film traces 300 years of history of the Douro wine producing region in Portugal featuring interviews with many of the key figures working in the region today. Here is a preview below.

I supported Zev's IndieGoGo campaign to raise funds for the film and I recently got an advance copy of the film. I toured the Douro this past February and it was great to re-live my visit and reconnect through the film with the people I met including Adrian Bridge, George Sandeman and Oscar Quevedo--all of whom I have written about previously here in this blog.

If Oscar Quevedo is not elected Ambassador of Portugal Wine, I imagine no one ever will. It would be hard for anyone else to match his enthusiasm. His easy charm and infectious joy for the wines of Portugal is so genuine. We were on the same bus at the 2009 Wine Bloggers Conference and after spending time with him and his then girlfriend Nadia, I vowed to visit the Douro and see his family's Quinta. I got very very close to that goal back in February but due to a scheduling sanfu, I missed the Quevedo winery by about 6 miles and 3 hours. Luckily Life on the Douro spends much quality time with the Quevedos and through the film I feel like I got to visit there after all.

I loved this film. It's a kiss on the lips to the Douro and the winemakers. If you have been to the Douro this film will deepen your experience, and if you have not yet been, this will be your tipping point to go and make your own discoveries.

The film premiered on September 6, 2011 as part of the Douro Film Harvest festival and plans are being made for screenings in North America and Europe over the next year including these dates in California.

Los Angeles -- November, 15th
San Francisco -- November, 17th --More details here--
http://www.delanceystreetfoundation.org/enterscreening.php
Paso Robles-- Novmber 19 or 20th - - http://www.pasoroblesfilmfestival.com

For more information visit:
http://www.facebook.com/LifeontheDouro
http://lifeonthedouro.com/
http://zevrobinson.com

Monday, March 28, 2011

Portugal Part 6: Croft Vineyards & Portrait of Adrian Bridge

Adrian Bridge, CEO Fladgate Partnership

Adrian Bridge is focused. You can see it in the way he walks across the land, plucks an orange from a tree, thumps a barrel, mimics the stomping cadence in the lagare, or hunkers down in the dirt to illustrate a point. To call him passionate would be an understatement. No, Adrian Bridge, CEO of the Taylor's Fladgate Partnership is beyond passionate; he is completely attuned and fully engaged in everything he turns his attention towards--from vineyards, to wine tourism. Bridge has great presence and strikes me as the type of man who could introduce himself by saying -- “Bridge. Adrian Bridge.”-- without mocking James Bond.

In the lagare

Close to the land

On a chill February day, just outside Pinhão on the Douro, Bridge escorted us through Quinta da Roeda, the Croft property purchased in 2001, where Croft Port red, white and pink is produced. Much of the harvest work is by hand, but with a technological assist. In the lagares, humans still tread the grapes, but a sophisticated piece of machinery (similar, to the one at Quinta Nova) supports the treading with a custom crush device set on rails that skims across the shallow granite vats and adjusts the pressure according to the liquid levels.

Mechanical treader

Field demo with the pneumatic snips

Out in the vineyards skilled workers perform their jobs with the aid of high technology. The day we visited, the vineyard crews were pruning the cane using pneumatic snips calibrated to cut the vine in a precise way each and every time with no human error. The shears are set to cut a certain diameter, keeping fingers safe. Apparently if you stick your finger in the clipper and pull the trigger it will not cut you, but no one volunteered to prove the point.

Quinta da Roeda

At first glance the vineyards look like they just magically planted themselves in perfect alignment with the land, but the slopes at Croft are laid out with lasers to mitigate erosion and the tenets of bio-diversity are at play here in the fields of the lords of Port.

Outdoor tables and view at Quinta do Panascal

After the tour of Croft we adjourned to the rustic yet chic Quinta do Panascal for a luncheon where we sampled several Fonseca and Taylor’s Port offerings. The Fonseca Siroco white port makes for a fine cocktail and it set the tone for the rest of the lunch, which included red and white table wines and several top ports from Fonseca and Taylor’s.

The traditional Portuguese dishes were prepared with flair and served with a touch of elegance that seems to be the hallmark of all the Fladgate port wines and guest properties.

A tiny island of delight

The vineyards under the Fladgate Partnership include Croft, Taylor’s and Fonseca. And like Adrian Bridge, they all have a singular focus on the end result, be it the exquisite expression of grape in the glass, or in the case of wine tourism, the embodiment of hospitality in the service offered at the Yeatman-- the new ultra luxury wine hotel, in Vila Nova de Gia across the river from Porto--the latest jewel in the crown of the Fladgate operation.