History in our midst and Columbus was Portuguese!
Hordes of foreign journalists and winebloggers are soon to descend upon the Alentejan plains. October 24th-26th is the 3rd edition of Vinipax, a wine fair held in Beja, showcasing wine producers from Southern Portugal. We look forward to having a chance to chat with and show our wines to a bevy of foreign journalists, including Kristine Baeder and Peer Holm (Germany), Sarah Ahmed and Michael Whiteside (UK), Romain Batha and Lylian Turmes (Luxembourg), Jorge Lucki (Brazil) and Freddie Grimwood (Canada) who have been invited for this firsthand experience of southern Portuguese wines.
Shortly afterwards, Cortes de Cima will be opening our cellarroom doors to wine bloggers from far and wide, who will be attending the 2nd European Wine Bloggers Conference,taking place in Lisbon 30th Oct-1st Nov. Direct from the winery, we will be staging a Live Wine Blogging event, whereby wine bloggers will be able to taste our wines and Live Blog or Twitter simultaneously with a group of other wine bloggers at the Sala Ogival, Lisbon. We are quite excited about staging this ‘first ever’ Portuguese Live Wine Blogging event!
And to you foreign visitors, we hope you will take a moment to reflect about the long and impressive history in our midst, when you visit these magnificent Alentejan plains. Many great men have been here before you! Julius Caesar imposed his ‘Pax Julia‘ here in the year 48- 2 millenniums ago. António Raposo Tavares, a native son of Beja, was one of the greatest colonial explorers and bandeirantes of South America. Another son of Alentejo, Vasco da Gama who discovered the route to India, was established as Conde (Count) of Vidigueira in 1519 upon his return from this epic voyage.
But without a doubt Alentejo’s most famous son is ironically known worldwide not as an Alentejan, but as an Italian from Genoa! Christopher Columbus born as Cristovao Colon in our neighboring village of Cuba!
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Adegga
Sunday December 6th, 2009
“About C.Columbus first of all, before I forget! Actually I have forgotten most of what I have in the past read about him, but I do remember (I’m nearly sure it was Salvador de Madariaga’s book) that the consensus seemed to be that he was a Portuguese Jew living in Genoa – Jews were heavily persecuted by the Inquisition, even when they ostentatiously flourished their Christian Convert Credentials. He died in Cuba though – the real Cuba, not the Alentejo one – which was then called Hispaniola. So why did they call it Cuba afterwards? Not knowing, can’t say. But the controversy is not about to go away, as only last week in El País there was a review of a recent book proving beyond doubt (or beyond the doubt of the author) that he was actually a Catalan! His wife Filipa was the daugher of Bartolomeu Perestello, one of the Captains of Porto Santo (that small island off Madeira). It is supposed that Perestrello gave him (CC) some Portuguese maps which encouraged him to cross the ocean blue in 1492. But against that many Portuguese historians say Rubbish, D. João 11 and his mariners knew perfectly well that CC couldn’t get to Japan going west because they had already discovered Brazil, which was rather in the way, but they were keeping this info under their hat in case the Castilians went off and pinched it when no one was looking. We knew some Perestellos, their mother was English (nursed a Portuguese aristocrat in the British Hospital when he had broken his ankle and Bingo…) there were 4 children, and they lived in a simply beautiful old manor house somewhere near Torres Vedras. Well, so did their Porto Santo ancestor come from Cuba? Apparently not, because CC’s father-in-law was Italian, who had left Italy and become a merchant in Lisbon, before sailing off to help discover Madeira and being rewarded by H. the Navigator with a Capitania on Porto Santo. So the Alentejo has perhaps to be content with that old villain (cruel and inhuman man who tortured and massacred all the Indians who got in his way) Vasco da Gama.!” Janet Reynolds via email.
Sunday December 6th, 2009
Janet Reynold’s history credentials are solid: she is the wife of retired Lisbon Attorney Martin Reynolds and also is an authority on Vasco de Gama, having written a text-book on his History. Her Mother was the well known British Authoress Elizabeth Cadell, who lived the majority of her life in Portugal. Her only sibling, John Cadell, was the youngest Admiral in the British Navy during his time, serving as England’s NATO Admiral in Naples and later knighted by Queen Elizabeth. Janet & Martin have 4 Children: their two Sons are both active in the Portuguese wine Industry.