Wine/Expert Profile

Expertise

Viticulture issues, enology / winemaking issues. Wine regions of the world, with specialisation in the wines of Portugal, including Port. Tasting and sensory analysis, chemical analysis and the relation between both. Wine industry and wine economics (BUT NOT PRICES OF WINES). Sources of information regarding any aspect of wine. The human element of the wine industry and the integration of all aspects and sciences that concur to make a wine. Terroir.

Experience in the area

I have been a winemaker for 20 years. I am also in charge of the R&D department of the largest wine company in Portugal.

Organizations

Sogrape Vinhos S.A. ADVID (Association for the Development of Viticulture in Douro)

Education/Credentials

Degree in Enology - UTAD, Vila Real, Portugal

What do you like about this subject?

The infinite possibilities and the continuous search for perfection. Also the fact that it is not just a commodity or a good. Wine can only be understood as a cultural object that you drink.

What do you still hope to achieve/learn in this field?

More on the way people respond to wine, deepre insight onto the relation between location and wine expression

Something interesting about this subject that others may not know:

Wine is being made purposefully by mankind since more than 4 000 years. The oldest remains found that attest to man making wine were from Hajji Firuz Teppe, a location in what is now Iran and then Persia. Seemingly, this wine would be sent down the Euphrates river to Mesopotamia.

Something controversial or provocative about this subject

Wine is more than a mere beverage, it is liquid culture. There are trivial and futile wines as there are rich and learned wines who have a story to tell. To drink wine is more than quaffing thirst, it is a journey to the place it originated from and a visit with the people who toiled to produce it like it is.