Sheer ignorance leads us to drink the same wines all the time - Planalto, Borba, Mateus and I recently tried one available in a bar in Teddington called St Isoldo de Pegoes (sp?) .
What are the real gems available in Carvoeiro I've been missing?
Any sparkling whites worth looking out for?

Great question sandy!

Like you we tend to "play safe" buying the same wines at around 5 to 7 €'s a bottle.

Would be equally interested in recommended Portuguese wines either side of this price point.

We tend to go with the 'house wines' as you get to taste some very nice wines at a reasonable price. When I buy wine I tend to go for the Alentejo wines for the reds as they are usually very good and Vino Verde for the white as we like fresh, crisp, dry white wine. Can't think of any names tho' sorry.

We have started trying the Alverinho wines from the far north, more depth than Vinho Verde, a bit more expensive but Pingo Doce do an acceptable own brand.
The Quinta Cabriz ( Dao ) both white and reds are good from under 4 euros upwards ( more for the reservas ).

By the way what is the officialy qualifies a wine for Reserva status.

Handy hint - if you find a wine you like in a restaurant take a picture of the label on your phone - then it is easy to find when you are in the supermarket

Graham wrote:Handy hint - if you find a wine you like in a restaurant take a picture of the label on your phone - then it is easy to find when you are in the supermarket

Good idea Graham, I never think about sensible things like that, usually too busy drinking it!!!

Am I the only one on Gods earth that doesn't like wine? I would love to but it tastes like vinegar to me I'm not much of a drinker at all, I dont mind a lager but sometimes one glass can last hours If I do have a glass of wine it has to be Asti, sweet n bubbly

Jackie O wrote:Am I the only one on Gods earth that doesn't like wine? I would love to but it tastes like vinegar to me I'm not much of a drinker at all, I dont mind a lager but sometimes one glass can last hours If I do have a glass of wine it has to be Asti, sweet n bubbly

Shocking, I know

I wish I was like you Jackie O, life would be a lot cheaper & healthier, more boring, but definitely cheaper & healthier.

I hate things that are sweet & bubbly.

Not cheaper here Blue, hubby spends far too much on booze I would love to drink wine but just cant stand it

blue wrote:I wish I was like you Jackie O, life would be a lot cheaper & healthier, more boring, but definitely cheaper & healthier.

I hate things that are sweet & bubbly.

Im with you on that one Blue..though I did manage a glass of Champagne on our 40th anniversary at Christmas.

Ive had some very good wines in various restaurants..had specially nice one at Romas couple years ago..a Rose but cant find name of it (I wrote it down somewhere)..
and also had nice ones in Colombos and in A Casa Do Pao.

When we lived in Lagoa there was an off licence behind our block of apartments (its still there) and we bought some very nice local wines there on different occasions.
But Port is my after dinner drink....red and white.

We tend to go for the dry whites, notably BSE, (the name appealed to me initially!!) and Planalto. Both of which tend to be standards in most restaurants.
For lunchtimes and barbey drinking I love a good Vinho Verde, really well chilled, and have even found some dry ones in the process.

LJ introduced us to a really good dry rose', but I've forgotten the name of it.
like her we have been experimenting with some of the northern wines, both red and white.

Another good find are the wines of the Lagoa co-operative. some very good.....and some...erh....not so!

Another great find we were introduced to by Blue, is dry white port. It's her fault that we now keep a bottle in our fridge, both at home and in Carvoeiro. Thanks Jack!!

One of the best places I find to buy wine is believe it or not the wine shop below the Matibixo bar its normally cheaper than intermarche. One of the wines I like is a red called Chamine costs about five sovs. They also do a half decent white..

Gary

Agree with EMM - Quinta Do Cabriz are very good wines esp the reds . Quite reasonable also - the red is on the wine list in Casa do Bife and goes down very well with a nice steak