Welcome to the 2025 Holiday Seasonš·
First of all, the BFW Family would like to thank you all for your support in 2025!
As I write this I am sitting on a bus traveling into the Alentejo region of Portugal. Polly and I are hosting a wine discovery tour for friends and customers of BFW. It will be hard to recap everything that we have experienced and learned, but we take these trips seriously to further our wine knowledge and perhaps thereās some benefit for the wines we make. Our regulars know that we make wines with a European influence, working to balance the fruitiness of California grapes, grape acidity for structure, and keeping the alcohol levels in check.
Earlier today, we wrapped up a seven-day river cruise on the Douro River starting and ending in the UNESCO World Heritage city of Porto in the north. We travelled up the river to the border with Spain and back. On the way we tasted and learned about the wines of both the Vinho Verde Region and the lower, middle and upper Douro River valleys.
The wines of the Vinho Verde region, known locally as green wines, hence the name, are light and refreshing white wine, ranging in alcohol content from 9-12%. The region is characterized by cool summers and lots of moisture as it is located near the coast, extending north from Porto to the Spanish border near the coastal region of Galicia. You would not recognize the grape names except for Alvarinho, which we know at BFW as AlbariƱo. Portugal is home to huundreds of endemic wine varieties grown nowhere else in the world.
The Douro region is a much drier region and downright hot in the summer. It produces the majority of the wine from Portugal. The vineyards are terraced on the steep hillsides. This region produces port style wines, but is also known for producing still, dry wines both white and red! The more well-known grapes of the Douro include Touriga Nacional, Tinita Franca, and Tinta Roriz. The latter two are more commonly known as Cabernet Franc and Tempranillo!
Ahead of us are the grapes of the Alentejo in the area east of Lisbon. This region is the largest and hottest region of Portugal producing some amazingly well balanced white and red wines. Stay tuned.
