After copious amounts of drinking and eating in both the Douro Valley and the city of Porto, I eventually had to do some work.  On my last day in Porto I presented in a series of short web videos for the IVDP aka the Port Institute.  I thought I’d let you in on a little behind-the-scenes action to give you an idea of what presenting is really like. There are lots of laughs.  I don’t know what it is about film crews, but even in Portugal, the film guys are cool. ‘Could you try

In my last post, after rambling on about the beauty of the Douro Valley in Northern Portugal (home to Port and many an unfortified ‘table wine’), I promised I’d give you some wine recommendations from the region.  After all, it’s the wine itself that really does the talking. So, in order of our visits, here are a some of my favourites from the trip that are available in the UK and the US: Quinta do Noval Old stalwarts of the Port industry, Quinta do Noval always make my list

After much crying and feeling sorry for ourselves back in April thanks to the killjoy of volcano ash that cancelled our holiday plans to Portugal, my mother and I finally managed to dry our eyes and take our long awaited trip together to the land of the best custard tarts (‘pastéis de nata’) in the world. The original and best pastéis de nata I openly admit with little shame that my main purpose for travel is almost entirely centred around food and drink.  When I’m finished w