#Winelover Week at the Adegga Wine Market 2012 (Part 1)

By Lotte Karolina Gabrovits and Luiz Alberto, #winelovers

 View of Oporto from Vila Nova de Gaia

The first stop of an iconic Portuguese adventure was in Oporto for our “#Winelover Week at the Adegga Wine Market 2012″. But, before we talk about that, just a quick introduction to one of the most important Portuguese events for consumers and winemakers: the Adegga Wine Market. This fascinating event was held on 01.12.2012. It’s been organized for the past 4 years by fellow #winelover and great friend André Ribeirinho. To promote the event and to create a much bigger impact, André invited a small group of #winelovers to participate. And, since we were going to Portugal, why not spend an entire week enjoying the great things that the country has to offer? And the first Adegga Week for the #winelover was created…

We were invited by important wineries/companies to do something wine-related during that week. One of them was Sogrape. They are simply the largest wine producer in Portugal… and they were so kind that they offered to host our #winelover’s hangout in Vila Nova de Gaia at the Sandeman Lodge. They also hosted us on a visit to Quinta do Seixo (also Sandeman). We visited a couple of wine regions (Douro, Alentejo, and Lisbon), had many tastings and, of course, our wonderful hangouts… But you can see it all below, as we would love to share these precious moments we spent all together. We don’t want to miss the opportunity to say thanks again to André Ribeirinho and to all the sponsors who made it possible to organize such an amazing week in Portugal… but this will be covered in our next postings. This one is about our first day in Portugal and our fantastic hangout hosted by Sogrape.

#winelover hangout Oporto @ Sandeman – 11.26.2012

The first day of our journey in Portugal. And one of the most famous Port producers in the world – Sandeman* – received us, invited us for having a BYOB at their place, but even before the official hangout we got the pleasure to visit some of the top secret parts of their cellar … you can see some of us enjoying some of their delicious old tawny wines.

* Sandeman was the first company to brand a cask with an iron brand in1805, making it one of the oldest in the world.

Picture by Daniel Matos, #winelover

Having tasted some of truly delicious Ports, the evening ended with a dinner hosted by Sandeman. At their place many #winelovers got the opportunity to join the dinner (delicious food by the way!) and bring their one own bottle of wine. One bottle (or more) that each one of us wanted to present and tell a story about it. The result? Many, many nice stories and as many delicious wines…

With “old friend” Stéphane (Quinta Do Pôpa) 

and on the back ground “new friend” Jorge Luís Veiga Torres -
Picture by Daniel Matos, #winelover

It was great to see some old friends and to make new ones!

Above you can get a little idea of the amount of fun we had… and, of course, you will find a lot of pictures of this hangout (and of anything that we do as community) online. Being a #winelover means not only loving wine, but also our willingness to share all these beautiful experiences with as many people as possible. And that can happen either in “real life” during our hangouts, visits to wineries and vineyards… or, via the use digital communication: social media and blogs. Just like this one…

A very brief introduction to our hosts:

Luís Sottomayor – Luís is the chief Douro winemaker for Sogrape and he was elected winemaker of the year 2012 at the International Wine Challenge (fortified category)

Joana Pais (in the picture above with “The Don”) – Joana is the Manager of Press Relations for Sogrape Vinhos, S.A. She has a degree in journalism and she joined Sogrape in 2004.

Catatina Soares (in the picture with “The Other Don” Andre Ribeirinho) – Catarina studied economics at Oporto Univeristy and she is the brand manager at Sogrape.

Near future:


So, here we are again looking forward to many #winelover weeks like this one all over the world. Our next stop is in Brussels for #WBIS.

Church of St.Valentine – Terni, Italy

Then, our following meeting will be the most important event in the history of our community… And it will be in February in Umbria: The 1st anniversary of the #winelover’s community. Thanks to the city of Terni who will be the sponsor for this big event with some many activities such as Masterclasses with an MW (Patrick Farrell) tastings, visits, and the first ever #winelover’s wine competition! You can check the entire program here: Umbria is for #winelovers – Our first anniversary celebration on Valentine’s day!

Picture by Pal Gabrovits, #winelover

If you still haven’t joined our community… after this post you know what you have already missed and for sure you will miss many more amazing events like this #winelover week in Portugal… as we are also planning to have such a week in Hungary in the week before Vince. We’ll keep you posted…

Cheers!

Lotte Karolina Gabrovits & Luiz Alberto, #winelovers

Umbria is for #winelovers – Our first anniversary celebration on Valentine’s day!

"#Valentines day is #winelover’s day!
Ok… give us a second…how to start: WOW!

The event that comes up on Valentines day 2013 will be a truly special one… so, it would be a real pleasure for us to host many friends of our international #winelover’s community.
Everything started here not even a year ago...
Since then - Valentine’s day 2012 - many people have heard of our mission (which is luckily our passion as well). For those of you who still do not know what it is…we share our love for wine and our thirst for wine knowledge with wine friends and #winelover-s anywhere in the world.

Our community is growing really fast. Not even in our wildest dreams we would have imagined that we would be so known and so big with just a few months of our existence. More than 6,000 people are already members of our facebook group and we receive dozens of requests everyday from people who want to join us. The group has grown worldwide uniting MWs, MSs, sommeliers, wine professionals, and wine bloggers who want to share their passion.for.wine!

Our dream is to expand this group to any #winelover of the planet. If doesn’t matter if he/she is a wine professional or not. We only hope you are willing to share your wine experiences and that you have the desire to connect with like minded people.

Basilica di S Valentino

We would like also to use this opportunity to say a big thanks to the people of Umbria and, of course, to the city of Terni where Saint Valentine is buried, as well. They came up with the idea of the 1st year’s anniversary and the main event will be hosted there. We are so grateful we will be part of an amazing event. A celebration that is going to be unforgettable in every possible positive way!

We understand that many of us are busy with so many wine events happening, specially, at the first part of the year. But try to find a way… and come join us in to the country of love, the country where the cult of wine, food and life has so much importance. In a way, there’s something unique and magic around these things in Italy. Something that we - #winelovers - could really learn from.

This year there will be many opportunities for new people to join the #winelover’s community… but then again, if you can find a couple of days on your schedule, please come and join us for this big celebration of wine, love and life.

Here are  some of the highlights of the events planned for February (14th, 15th, 16th, and 17th) in Terni (Umbria, Italy):

• Master of Wine Masterclass: An Italian blind tasting hosted by MW Patrick Farrell
• Umbrian wines exibition with about 50 wineries from the region.
• Umbrian wines Master Class: Our team of professional wine educators will take you on an Umbrian wine discovery journey.
• Visits to wineries in the gorgeous countryside of Umbria.
• Visits to some of the amazing towns in Umbria (Assisi, Perugia, etc)
• Why #winelover?: A seminar/discussion about what a winelover is, about our community, what we stand for and how you can join us online and make new friends
• #winelover-s as part of your winery market strategy: Here we will delve into the topic of how #winelover-s can be valuable ambassadors of your brand on and off line.
• An Umbrian Food and Wine Pairing class hosted by an Italian Sommelier
• Wine2.0: an overview of the Social Media in today’s wine world. We aim to give you an overview of the online communication tools available today and will touch on how wine review sites can work for #winelovers and wineries alike
• The Umbrian #winelover’s quizzes: test your knowledge of Umbrian wines and compete to win fabulous #winelover T-shirts and buttons!
• A mini #winelover vinocamp: We will introduce you to the #vinocamp movement, explain how it started and is working in France and Germany before collecting a few topics for discussion.
• A #winelover wine competition: Which wines will be the first ones to win a #winelover's award?

PS: Most of this program is based on a team effort that was crafted for our first event as community during Vinitaly last year. Thanks to Caroline Henry, Onne Wan, Giulia Luccioli, and Andre Ribeirinho for your valuable contribution. #winelover #team #effort

I hope to see you all in Umbria for Valentine's day!

Cheers,
Luiz Alberto, #winelover