Day 7: July 5th-----Minho, Vinho Verde, Quinta da Lixa and Casa de Sezim

Minho: Vinho Verde/Porto Green is what you expect from the descriptive "Green Wine" that is used for this area. Green however, does not refer to the wine as much as the lush, green area that lies between the Douro and Minho rivers. Wine has been made in this lovely region from the times of Ancient Rome and has continued to be an influence in the world. As a matter of fact, when people mention Portuguese wine, after Port, Vinho Verde is the most often referred to as a wine producing area/wine. This hopefully will change with the massive work that ViniPortugal is doing to educate the world about the magnificent wines of this country. Quinta da Lixa The company which owns this winery , Soporvin, was created in in 1986 by the Meireless Family. They decided to found a winery in the village of Lixa and found that their product was not only good but excellent. They acquired new properties and built new cellars. They now own six properties: Quinta da Lixa, Quinta da Sanguinhedo, Quinta de Tarrio, Quinta de Corredoura, Quinta de Coveiros, and Quinta das Maias with a total vineyard area of 35 hectares. We were met at Lixa by Carlos Teixeira, the winemaker and enologist at the Quinta. He introduced us to several wines. Wines: WHITE Vinho Verde:Made up of Luoeiro, Trajadura.Pleasant and quite forward. Blend is an interesting blend of wines. Pleasant, nice enough but somewhat challenging. Alvarhino:Rich, ripe tropical, pleasant with some acidity on finsh. Pleasant enough wines. Luoreiro: Fragrant, light fiz, fresg and nice acidity. Vinha Real Vinhi Verde: Big nose, fresh on palate. Nice body and fruity. Trajadura: Nice minerality and freshness but not too acid. Some slight fizz. Pleasant mouth feel. Terras do Minho Vinho Verde : Nice, fresh nose. Good fruit, light and fresh with some sweetness. RED Verde Tinto:Nicely coloured, vivid with spritzyness. Carlos then hosted us to a sensational lunch The Quinta produces a variety of brands under its labels with various blends but the above impressed me the most. Nice wines and nice place. The next winery we went to was Casa de Sezim which proved to be a very interesting and unusal place to spend a night. Casa de Sezim The original building dates back to the 14th Century. The oldest part of it was built in 1390 and goes back in ownership to a companion of the then King of Portugal. The decor is quite impressive and of course all the rooms and gardens which adorn the estate have a story which involves brushes with antiquity. The whole area wreaks history. There are essences of modern living, however, such as the swimming pool and lovely walking areas. However, for the most part, driving into Sezim is basically driving into the past. I got a laugh when we chose our rooms. Greg got the room which had a very well done but dark decor I chose a lighter decor next door. I asked the owner, Antonio Mesquita, about ghosts and he replied that they do hear things but he has not seen any. He did say that if any room was haunted it would be "his" room, pointing to Greg! It seems that in the past that room was the chapel and the bodies of those that "passed" on were buried in it! So Greg was sleeping above dead people???? He said that he slept well. The other interesting thing about Sezim was the table rock that was in the far side of he garden. it was a table that had been there for over 300 years and Antonio mentioned that he couldn't imagine the things that must have gone on around and on it. It was a table that has seen much history-----from major war decisions to love making to the signing of many documents. The wines from this winery were all excellent from the fresh Arinto, to the very pleasant Vinhao Red. One interesting aspect of the winery was the flora and fauna. There was a point that I was exploring around the garden where, while inspecting the nooks and cranneys around it, I came upon a humungous spider which looked like a giant black widow spider----the kind that one sees in horror movies. I left it alone and even though Greg tried to take pictures of it, the area it was in prooved too dark. The other thing that was far more enticing was the lovely flowers and water lilies in various pond outlets in the garden. Just breathtaking. This Casa/Quinta had it all in history and beauty. We had dinner of all places some 10 Kls away from the Casa at a Mall which featured of all things, Pizza Hut, Burger King and other North American imports. We were supposed to eat at Szim but there was a misunderstanding so we figured that we needed a "home" fix anyway! Greg got some much needed tape for the camera anyway and I was just as happy to get some Junk Food after all the good stuff we were having here. We went to the Casa late and then to bed. I heard much noises going up and down stairs that night as well as much activity on the floor above me----in the wee,wee hours of the morning. I hope it was only the residents and not of the spirit kind! End of Day Seven