In a sense, we completed our South-to-North exploration of Portugal by visiting the northern wine region of the Vinho Verde which is Portuguese for "Green Wine".
Now the wine is not actually green but the region is famously fertile and green. The wine is white, made from Portuguese varietals like Alvarinho, Arinto, and Loureiro. It is usually a light, slightly acidic wine with a famous fizzy tingle sensation on the tongue. It is similar in style to German Riesling.
We stopped at Aveleda for a lunch, garden tour, and tasting.
This is a typical Portuguese lunch of veal, rice and salad. Simple food cooked perfectly in large portions. The picture below is considered a "light lunch". They gave us a red wine instead of Vinho Verde. What's up with that?
The garden tour was unfortunately rainy and I didn't get any good pictures. The wine tasting was also not impressive and I didn't find anything of note. The highlight of the visit was this fellow below.
He strutted in front of me, holding his ground because I'm another male, I guess.
But then Karen stepped out of the door and he displayed his finery for my lady.
He strutted his stuff magnificently.
Leaving the North (We'll be back), we headed into the city of Porto to turn in our trusty steed, the Fiat Tipo Diesel. The big reunion was about to happen! Stay tuned...