The location of the Port Wine cellars.

Posted by C.daSILVA / at Thursday, January 24, 2013 / / 0 comments

The Port / Port wine cellars are definitely the most precious gem(s) that Gaia offers to the world.
The so famous Port wine cellars are located in the riverside area of ​​Vila Nova de Gaia, in the parish of Santa Marinha.
The Port cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia are not merely an extension of the Douro.
The secret of aging the precious nectar in barrels, in darkness and humidity of the cellars covered with dust, a unique and genuine atmosphere that only age can confer.
 


C. da Silva´s cellar
 

The caves have been around for centuries being the depots for export of wines from the Douro valley to British and Dutch customers.
In the early 17th century directly from the Douro valley, but with the wine volumes traded increasing exponentially there was a need to seek new storage places along the Douro river.
The Ribeira de Gaia has provided the perfect solution for that issue.
The headquarters of the companies, however, would be a few more decades on this side of the river, as close to New Street from the British, today Rua do Infante, then the commercial and financial center of Porto city.

The Douro River flows from the province of Soria, on the peaks of the Sierra de Urbião in Spain, 2080 meters of altitude.
Until you get to the mouth in Porto city, the Douro river slides along 850 kilometers of narrow and deep channels.
Popular voices say that the river´s name "Douro" lays is origin in a unique color that occurred especially in rainy times... a golden color.
But some say that in the slopes were found rhinestones that would be gold.
In short the portuguese meaning for something made of gold - de ouro or the contraction douro.
The construction of dams has allowed the river to stay calmer, encouraging tourism boat tours.
At the mouth of the Douro river separates the city of Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia (where the cellars are located) and is crossed by six bridges.

The overwhelming majority of cellars are situated on the slopes of Vila Nova de Gaia between two bridges, Dom Luís and Arrábida.
Although there are others slightly distant, like C. da Silva, located near the downtown, it is crucial being well located, so... we have nowadays a mandatory place situated at the riverside a few meters from the Dom Luís bridge... C. da Silva´s Port & Wine shop... it definitely worth any effort to visit us.

C. da Silva´s Port & Wine shop
 

The Cellars, sanctified by time, form a indispensable component of the Douro and Port Wine soul.

Moscatel...the origins... where it is produced...when to drink it ?

Posted by C.daSILVA / at Wednesday, January 16, 2013 / / 0 comments

The Moscatel wines, such like Port is a fortified wine.
Altough it is a great wine by itself, Moscatel is mainly a dessert wine produced in the Douro valley and in the Setúbal region.

Like Port there are different aged Moscatel, with different levels of complexity. "Moscatel" is the name that has been given to a group of grapes with high sugar content, it is common that the residual sugar per liter is about 140grms/liter.

DALVA Moscatel (blending Moscatel with an average of five years old)

Setúbal is located just south of Lisbon. The region was recognized as a D.O.C. (Denomination of Controlled Origin) in 1907. The Setúbal and Douro regions have the right conditions to produce some of the best fortified wines from the Moscatel (Muscat) grapes.

Other countries that are very famous for their Moscatel: France (Muscat); Italy (Moscato); Spain (Moscatel), Brasil (Moscatel) and South Africa (Muscat).

In 2011 a portuguese Moscatel was considered the number one worldwide, competing with over 200 different samples from France; Italy, Spain, Brasil and South Africa.

It is interesting to know that in general the Moscatel is used as a dessert wine, but in Portugal there some locations where people use 20cl miniatures of Moscatel mixed with beer, quite refreshing and used normally as an aperitif.

Mayson´s Top Wines

Posted by C.daSILVA / at Thursday, January 03, 2013 / / 0 comments

The Wines and fortified Wines magazine "Decanter" in England, launched the latest edition, January 2013.

One of the most relevant articles was written by Richard Mayson, English writer of wines, highly recognized internationally, specialising in wines from Spain and Portugal, Port Wine, Madeira and Sherry.

For Richard Mayson, the choice is clear with regard to Aged Tawnies, being his preferred the Tawny 20 Years Old.

The assessment of 20 Years Old Tawny was extensive, eighteen 20 Years Old Tawny made part of the tasting, leaving our DALVA 20 Years Old with the outstanding and better evaluation, rated with 19.5 points.

Justino´s Madeira Wines

Posted by C.daSILVA / at Thursday, December 27, 2012 / / 0 comments

 Justino´s was founded in 1870, in 1993 it was acquired by the French group "La Martiniquaise", that owns C. da Silva (Vinhos) SA and Gran Cruz Porto.
JUSTINO'S MADEIRA WINES, SA is one of the oldest producers of Madeira Wine and a very important exporter namely to countries like: Brazil, Japan, USA and Europe.


Justino´s Winery

                             GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION of the territory:

Madeira Island is the largest and most important with an approximate area of 735 km2 and a maximum length of 57 Km.
The Madeira Archipelago includes, Madeira, Porto Santo, and Wild Desert...maximum width: 23 Km.
It is Located in the Atlantic Ocean, 900 km southwest of Lisbon and 600 km west of the North African coast, the capital is the city of Funchal.

The climate:

Temperate climate (subtropical) with variations of temperature, humidity and rainfall according to altitude.
Temperature: 22 º C (August - the hottest month)
                    15 º C (February - the coldest month)

Recommended grape varietals:
White: Sercial, Verdelho, Boal, Malvasia Candida, Malvasia de São Jorge and Terrantez
Red: Tinta Negra
Authorized grape varietals:
White: Malvasia Fina, Listrão and Snail
Red: Complexa, Deliciosa and Triunfo
Most planted grape varietal: Tinta Negra

After the phylloxera (1872) it became the main grape varietal of Madeira island.

Justino´s Cellar

Madeira Wine is a fortified Wine with about 19% to 22% alcohol by volume.

Diferent types of Wines from Sweet to Dry, great persistency, intensity of color and a incredible richness of flavors and aromas. 

Four types according to each grape varietal:

^ Sercial - Dry
^ Verdelho - Medium Dry
^ Boal (Bual) - Medium Sweet
^ Malvasia (Malmsey) - Sweet

Most of the Madeira Wines aged during the first three months on heated stainless steel vats with a temperature that goes from 45º to 50º C.

After this stage the Wine is transferred to oak pipes for a long ageing process in order to achive a maximum oxidation and concentration.

Although it doesn´t evolve in the bottle like Vintage Port, it has a enormous longevity thanks to the oxidation during the ageing process, high alcohol content and high natural acidity.

C. da Silva´s Company today...

Posted by C.daSILVA / at Thursday, December 13, 2012 / / 0 comments

C. da Silva is currently run by the the french group La Martiniquaise (owns GRAN CRUZ also).
Its stocks of Port (C. da Silva Vinhos SA)  reach over two million litres stored at the Vinification Center in the Douro Valley and eight million litres in two cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia.

Family Mansion... nowadays the headquarters of the Company

The stockage of eight million liters is being distributed by stainless steel vessels and glass coated cement vats durins the first two years and the last ageing stage... 3000 oak casks, with a measure that goes from 350 liters to 750 liters.

Although the Company does not owns any estate, the grapes are being thoroughly choosen since the very beginning.
Our Ports are internationally recognized for the high quality, specially when it comes to Colheita and White Ports.
Traditional grape growers to whom our Company has been buying the grapes during the last twenty five years have been a important bench mark.

Like all the Port Wine Companies, export represents the biggest slice of the annual income, around 90% of our sales goes to USA and Europe.

Our traditional cellar

Today the desire to continue Mr. Clemente da Silva´s making tradition is a serious commitment.
Thanks to C. da SIlva´s “boutique”, the export, distributors and retailers in the domestic market , DALVA is the first name on the list for Premium Port and Douro Wine categories.

Kiko Ribeiro da Silva

Posted by C.daSILVA / at Thursday, December 06, 2012 / / 0 comments

Clemente Ribeiro da Silva (Mr. C. da Silva´s son) was born in 1943, a very creative person, he revealed since his youth a innate ability to draw, aware of this ability, Clemente Ribeiro da Silva, known for his nickname “Kiko”… began to design his favourite racing cars.

In the late sixties, a dream became true, Kiko started racing.

But it was in 1971 that Kiko started to become well known to the big audience, being 4th in the national championship, driving a Datsun 1200, and sponsored by DALVA.

Because of this amazing initiation, Kiko raced for TEAM DALVA, with many other racing cars, like…Toyota Corolla 1200 S KE20; Opel Commodore GS/E; Mini cooper; Porsche Carrera RSR and Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV.

On 1977 at the wheel of an Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV, Kiko ran in a unlucky race, in Estoril.

Mechanical problems forced him to park the car near to the finish line, he has waited next to the rail till all competitors crossed the finish line.

Mechanical problems forced him to park the car near to the finish line, he has waited next to the rail till all competitors crossed the finish line.

Kiko Ribeiro da Silva

The winner of this 500km race in Estoril was the Italian Humberto Grano driving a BMW 3.0 CSL, that because of a breakdown in the alternator was racing without lights, Humberto didn´t see the finish line flag and was still in race mode, due to this, Kiko crossed the race track and the worst happened.

A unusual accident in the national motoring.

A visionary, a friend… a great pilot.

PORTO CRUZ SPACE...The Restaurant

Posted by C.daSILVA / at Tuesday, November 27, 2012 / / 0 comments

An irreverent gastronomic proposal, which unites the Porto Cruz and DALVA Wines to the culture of Portuguese food.

There are appetizers / main courses and desserts, that should be paired with the DALVA Lote Miguel Castro Silva, as well as the table Wines, the fabulous Colheitas, LBV´s and Vintages Porto Cruz and DALVA.

After a meal with privileged view to the Douro river, you´re invited to met the Lounge Bar at the last floor of the Gran Cruz Space to enjoy a cocktail with Pink Port or just sipping a Port wine.

You can see the menu here.


Reservations:
Phone: (00351) 910553559
decastrogaia@myportocruz.com

This is a space for tasting and pairing Portuguese wines with appetizers under the guidance of the leading cooking Chef Miguel Castro Silva.

The cuisine here embraces the concept of innovation and modernity of the Porto Cruz Space project, challenging visitors to new experiences that test the palate in a informal, yet refined atmosphere.

Sharing meals with family or friends it is something "not to miss" once that it allows a wider and richer experience.