Come for the Wine: Porto

Showing posts with label Porto. Show all posts

Monday, July 11, 2011

Interview with Terence Carter of Grantourismo--Food and Wine Tourism Around the Globe

It’s a pandemic! It seems everyone is interviewing Lara Dunston of Grantourismo. So just to be contrary, I thought I’d interview the other part of the dynamic duo, the dark side of the equation—Mr. Terence Carter. But first, the back story...

I first met Lara and Terence at the Pousada Freixo Palace Hotel in Porto, Portugal at the end of their yearlong grand tour around the world sponsored by HomeAwayUK. We were both in Porto to speak at the Wine Pleasures wine tourism conference and tour the Minho and Douro wine regions.

I came into the lobby to inquire when we were leaving for the Minho, and Lara, to whom I had not yet been introduced--gave me the full itinerary, told me where to stow my luggage, and suggested I have a drink in the bar as I waited-- all without ever looking up from her laptop as she typed madly on the keyboard writing one of her last reports for the Grantourismo project. At the same time Terence was busy re-organizing their luggage while simultaneously up-loading and tagging photographs. Lara and Terence’s ability to multitask and work wherever they are, never wasting a moment, is mind-boggling to say the least. One might think their multiple commitments and deadlines would make them less than social travel companions, but I discovered their party ethic was equal to their gargantuan work ethic.

Q&A with Terence Carter of Grantourismo

Terence Carter--Dog Whisperer

Terence Carter is very much the modern renaissance man of the road. In addition to his talents as photographer, designer and writer – Terence is an accomplished musician, composer, cook, filmmaker, and I’ve heard very gifted with puppets too.

Q: If you could add a talent to your repertoire what would it be?

I can’t draw or paint. Which is one reason I became a photographer and used to design and typeset books.

Q: What's the one thing you notice that amateur photographers do that makes you cringe? What one thing could they do to most improve their pictures?

Amateur photographers always ask me about gear. That makes me cringe. Get over gear lust and focus on making good photographs is my usual advice.

Q: You make a point to learn about the local cuisines in your travels, meet local chefs, and take advantage of the market culture. If you only could use three ingredients to make Lara her favorite meal what would they be?

Too easy. Fresh oysters (from Brittany of course), champagne and sunshine.

Q. Of all the places you traveled on your grand tour, which had the most accessible wine culture? Meaning lots of wine bars or wineries in close proximity to where you were staying. Which had the least?

Probably Jerez, Spain. Everyone in town is constantly sipping sherry. But the Tio Pepe tasting tour was rubbish. So we bought a bunch of miniatures and recreated our own sherry tasting when we arrived in Barcelona from Jerez. That upset a few people, because obviously miniatures from the Tio Pepe gift shop are not going to offer the best expression of the sherry.

Bali had the least-accessible wine culture. We did check out the local wines, but it turned out they were made from Australian grapes, that probably weren’t good enough for ‘box wines’ back in Australia. There is a reason visitors to Bali just drink Bintang beer!

Q. I think the "wine comes to you" home wine tasting you did in Budapest is a fantastic idea. Were you familiar with any of the wines of Hungary before that tasting? Were you inspired to cook any particular dishes to pair with the wines you tasted?

Lara and I were familiar with both the Bull’s Blood red and the Tokaj dessert wines – we first tasted them many years ago when we did our first wine course, which I think was called ‘wines of the world’. The big reds inspired me to make ‘Hungarian goulash’, which I found out was actually called pörkölt.

Terence with Countess Enrica Rocca - at her cooking class in Venice

Q: Everyone has a comfort food, something they turn to in times of stress or homesickness. What’s yours?

For me it’s not just the food, it’s the act of making it that helps soothes the soul. And the dish I’d be making is ragù Bolognese. The ragù is rich and homely and fills the air with delicious aromas at the different stages of cooking. The first night I’ll serve it with tagliatelli (hopefully fresh if I have a pasta machine) and the next day I’ll make lasagne with it. I did it three times on the Grantourismo trip. Sometimes making it feels like an excuse to get to snack on Parmigiano Reggiano, quaff big glasses of red wine and listen to my favourite music, but who needs an excuse? Also, if I have time to make ragù, this means that I’m not under some serious pressure to meet deadlines. This is a good thing.

Q: What's your comfort music?

My comfort music while cooking is definitely jazz. The Complete Town Hall Concert by Charles Mingus is a favourite because it’s just so chaotic, but any Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, or early Miles Davis is fine by me. If I need something more soothing, I’ll listen to Erik Satie. I’m more than a little obsessed with Trios Gnossiennes, not the more familiar suite of Gymnopédies. I love the Oriental touches of the pieces.

Q: If you had a theme song from the road what would it be? Kodachrome by Paul Simon?

Wow, I had to actually look that song up on YouTube, I’m not much of a Paul Simon fan. We actually have a theme song from the road, but not from the Grantourismo tour. It’s the opening track from the album Forever Changes by The Love called Alone Again Or. A few years ago, Lara and I were setting off on a road trip around mainland Greece from Thessaloniki and we desperately needed some music for the rental car. I picked up a whole bunch of CDs from the discount bin of a record store. We put this CD in just as we hit the highway and now when we hear the opening with the Spanish guitar and the Tijuana brass kicking in, it’s like an instant road trip.

I did actually write a piece of music on the lovely upright piano in the house we stayed at in Cape Town. I guess that will have to serve as the theme for our Grantourismo year!

Q: Who will play you and Lara in the film version of your Grantourismo adventures?
One of George Clooney’s illegitimate sons would play my role. I’m sure he has one and George is too old to play me. Lara would have to be played by an extraordinarily beautiful Russian model. (I don’t like sleeping on the couch.)
Q: In the film Goodbye Lenin! there is a scene where they are airlifting a statue of Lenin over the city by helicopter that is straight out of Fellini's La Dolce Vita and it's so spot on iconic. What iconic scene from a film illustrates or punctuates your life of travel?
The scene in Betty Blue where Betty stabs a restaurant patron with a fork. I have no idea why. I think it’s because there is something so off-kilter about our lives.

Q: You are a fairly dapper guy...If you were fashion king: What one article clothing/footwear would you forbid men to wear?

‘Wife-beaters’ (the Aussie name for singlets) with beer logos on them – particularly Asian beers. I do also have a deep dislike of flip flops and sandals.

Terence complating his tree of life

Q: And now for the poignant Barbara Walters tear jerker--If you were a tree what kind if tree would you be? But let’s change tree to a spice - If you were a spice what spice would you be. No fair answering Sporty or Posh or Scary. OR If you were a wine what wine would you be? Try not to cry as you answer.
Star anise. It changes the flavour of everything it goes into and it’s the prettiest spice of all. If I was a wine I’d be a big Aussie Shiraz and because I’m currently in Bendigo, Australia it would be a good bottle of Turners Crossing 2005 The Cut Shiraz.

TERENCE CARTER
Terence is a professional photographer who has shot photos for travel guides for DK, Lonely Planet, Footprint and Thomas Cook (including Top Ten Dubai and Abu Dhabi guide, Dubai Encounter, Buenos Aires Encounter, Dubai city guide, Best of Brussels Bruges Antwerp & Ghent, Milan and the Lakes, Calabria and Northern Italy) and had his photography published in an array of travel magazines including National Geographic Traveler, Lifestyle+Travel, Paperplane, and Get Lost. You can look at his photography at www.terencecarterphotography.com

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Aboard the Good Ship Yeatman

View of Oporto across the Douro

If you have been following along with my Portugal posts you may recall that on the second day of the Wine Pleasures pre-tour we stayed overnight at the newly opened Yeatman Hotel. The Yeatman is built into the hillside above the Douro on the Vila de Gia side of the river. The grand open spaces, nautical details and juxtaposition to the river give it the feeling of a luxury ocean liner with all the rooms oriented towards the river, each with a private terrace.

Grand staircase leading to Lobby

After the Wine Pleasures tour I returned to the Yeatman to visit the private wine cellar and view the rest of the property. I stayed on for few days and got to unwind after a jam packed schedule.

The Yeatman is designed not only to take full advantage of the glorious views of Porto across the river. But also to highlight the wine producers of the region. Rooms are named after different wineries and showcase their wine. For die-hard oenophiles one of the Barrel rooms may be to your liking. That's right, you get to sleep inside a barrel.

Sweet dreams of fermentation

A tour of the impressive cellars turned up a few surprises, like a bottle of Ridge Monte Bello from my home state of California. The plan is to allow guests to visit the cellar between 4-6pm and select a bottle for dinner, then based on their selection, the Yeatman chefs create a meal to pair with the wine. I love this idea. It would be worth a trip back just to experience this concept alone. But with all those wines to choose from I'd need to stay a month or more! Below is a brief slide show of what the cellars hold.

One special highlight of my was the lunch I had in the dining room. I dined alone with only the view as my companion and the attentive staff. Dining solo in this type of setting allows you to focus entirely on the food and not feel compelled to make idle chit-chat. Not that I don't like to share, it's just a gift to have things to yourself sometimes. Although I did not partake of any of the Yeatman Spa offerings while I was there, my meal in the hands of chef Ricardo Costa was like a full spa treatment for the taste buds.

To start I had a glass of the 2009 Crasto and the first Amuse bouche set in Three Spoons--

Black Spoon: Scallops with apricot, green asparagus and beurre blanc.

Sliver Spoon: Smoked duck with foie gras, portuguese blood sausage and caviar

White Spoon: Sea urchin cream with caviar

Macaron of Serra del Estrela cheese

Foie gras truffle

Amuse bouche 2: Tuna terrine with foie gras and oyster yogurt and mushroom dust.

First Course: National Octopus with Crab cannelloni, sun dried tomato bread, molecular olives and green tomato consomme with olive oil.

Second: Megrim (a type of white fish) with vitelote potato flakes, vegetable gratin and fennel sauce.

Third: Algrave Almond cheesecake, spearmint sorbet, with hailed orange juice sorbet and vanilla with Taylors 2004 LBV Port.

Coffee and Mignardises ( Pasteis de Belem shown above)

The only thing that pulled me out of my reverie with the meal was the odd background soundtrack playing muzak versions of I Could Have Danced All Night from My Fair Lady, Frank Sinatra's The Lady is a Tramp, U2's I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, and most strange of all the Theme from MASH--Suicide Is Painless ...um what SiriusXM Channel is that?

The Yeatman is an experience with a capital E. It's luxurious, but not in an oppressive old-guard way--it's light and modern and accommodating in a most gracious way. It's worth a visit for the views alone. Stop in for a port cocktail in the laid-back bar overlooking the Douro and see if you don't feel like you are about to float away on the Good Ship Yeatman.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Portugal Part 1: The Conference Venue

Hey all--I'm back from Portugal and finally able to post about the 2011 Wine Pleasures Conference and blogger tour through the Minho and Douro wine regions. I forgot my Lumix camera so all my photos are from my iphone. But I will try to beg/buy/bargain for a few photos from some of the professional photographers who were on the trip. I'll be putting up a series of posts in the next few days detailing many aspects of the trip. First up-- the conference venue: Pousada Do Porto Freixo Palace Hotel

The Pousada Do Porto Freixo Palace Hotel is where the 2011 Wine Pleasures conference was held. It's situated right on the Douro river and has stunning views from the guest rooms and conference facilities.

The Pousada changed hands over the years and in the 20th century was sold to a ceramic firm Companhia Harmonic. That explains the huge industrial chimney on the riverside of the building which in my opinion lends the place a very Giorgio De Chirico vibe. It was later reconverted to a palace and a hotel as part of the state run group of Pousadas. It’s the largest pousada in Portugal.

I stayed at the Palace the first night I arrived in Porto before the conference tour of the Minho began. I found a rather surprising feature in my room as shown in this clip below--

Giorgio De Chirico would have loved this place. I think the resemblance to his paintings is uncanny. The colors, perspective and the industrial elements juxtaposed with the palace.

This is where Jed Clampet would have moved for a sense grandeur and splendor if he did not heed the advice to “move to Beverley Hills...” instead. Can’t you just picture Ellie May out here by the cement pond?