Rebels with a Cause!
I can just hear people saying, (perhaps it will even be the first comment that someone will make to this, our first Cortes de Cima winery blog post)……Oh no, not another winery blog! True enough, during the short time since we decided to start our own winery blog, I have noticed that, with Portugal an exception, there are already plenty of winery blogs out there, i.e. Wine Farmer , Mankas Hills , Anne Amie , Dover Canyon , Tintoralba , Kinkead Ridge , just to name a few. Not surprisingly, most are American, but in Iberia the Spaniards are certainly the pioneers. And what really blew my mind, was to find so many excellent ones! Wow! To learn that vineyards and wineries don’t only have the potential to produce great, inspirational wines, but also have the potential to produce great, inspirational writing!
The realization of what we have to live up to, was quite sobering. No sweat, if we had a budding Isabel Allende working here at the winery, or in the vineyard. And who knows, maybe we do? To find out, you are just going to have to keep watching this space!
A number of people have responded negatively when I asked them what they thought about our starting a winery blog. “No, don’t do it! Why do it? It would be stupid! It’s too risky! The less people know, the better! Why don’t other Portuguese wineries do it? Cause they’re not that stupid! ” The more reactions like that I heard, the more certain I became, that we had to do it. We like to be rebels.
Cortes de Cima is renown in Portugal as a pioneer and even a renegade. Perhaps because we arrived here as foreigners 20 years ago, we’ve always tended to do things differently, even sometimes, downright ‘illegal’. We were Portuguese pioneers in creating our winery website back in 1999, and again pioneers in being the first winery to sell online . By once again being pioneers in Portugal by starting this winery blog, we will endeavor to live up to the Bob Dylan quote, printed on the back label of our ‘illegal’ Syrah wine,’ Incognito’ – ‘To live outside the law you must be honest’ . We hope to give you an ‘honest’ insight into the daily goings on here at Cortes de Cima, even when we are a bit ‘outside the law’…(more on that later!)
Até breve,
Carrie Jorgensen
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Adegga
Thursday June 26th, 2008
Bom, como apreciador de vinho, como enófilo convicto, e sedento de aprender cada vez mais, é sem dúvida uma ideia refrescante ver que em Portugal existe a capacidade de inovar, e sobretudo saber apanhar a crista da onda, e surfar por este fantástico universo da Web 2.0. Parabéns à Cortes de Cima, primeiro pelos bons vinhos que faz, pela projecção que dá ao nosso Portugal, e também porque mais uma vez abre caminho ao que me parece inevitável… Acompanharei com muita atenção este blog.
Cumprimentos
Vitor Mendes
Friday June 27th, 2008
Welcome to the blogosphere, rebels!
I was alerted to your site through some twitter chatter so I thought I would check it out. A very nicely done site and LOTS of information and it sounds like you have a unique take on the wine world – and we need more of that!
I look forward to reading more about your adventures (and maybe visiting in some dim and distant future).
How is the 2008 vintage shaping up for you?
Friday June 27th, 2008
I am very pleased to see a Portuguese wine blog and a beautiful showing of informative literature from a Portuguese winery! I’m glad you didn’t listen to those people who told you it would be stupid, I think it’s stupid that Portugal isn’t putting enough effort yet in promoting their outstanding wines more abroad! But I hope to help light a fire under them here soon and you guys are making a great start. Look forward to reading future posts and definitely have to come visit sometime, I only live about an hour or so away!
Cheers,
Andrea Smith
Friday June 27th, 2008
Parabéns pelo vosso trabalho.
Quanto ao resto…meus amigos, isto é Portual. Uns estão bem e outros “ilegal”!
Gosto muito dos vossos vinhos e do trabalho que desenvolvem.
Carlos Alberto – Espinho
Sunday June 29th, 2008
Parabéns pelo novo site. São produtores como as Cortes de Cima que fazem a indústria do vinho evoluir. Ser empreendedor (e inovar) é um papel de grande responsabilidade. As Cortes de Cima têm estado sempre à altura ao tomar posições sobre o que será o futuro.
Congratulations!
André Ribeirinho
Thursday July 3rd, 2008
Caro Vitor Mendes obrigado pelo comentário. Tentaremos ser merecedores da sua atenção, mais que não seja produzindo bons vinhos.
Cumprimentos,
José Eduardo
Thursday July 3rd, 2008
Caro Carlos Alberto muito obrigado pelo seu suporte. Quanto a nós continuaremos tão “ilegais” quanto nos for legalmente possível.
Cumprimentos,
José Eduardo
Thursday July 3rd, 2008
André muito obrigado pelo elogio. Contamos com a visita da addega staff em breve, sabem que serão sempre bem vindos.
Um abraço,
José Eduardo
Saturday July 12th, 2008
Se hà algum tempo me tivessem dito que na herdade onde as mulheres da minha aldeia iam á ceifa se viria a produzir um vinho de excel~encia e em vez do cante alentejano algum dia se ouviriam acordes de musica clássica,…. diria : Impossível!
Estou muito feliz por ver que tudo isso acontece e é muito bom!
Obrigada e parabéns por um trabalho excelente!
Nota: A minha aldeia é Selmes:
Sunday July 13th, 2008
Parabéns pela nova iniciativa. É uma excelente maneira de um produtor, neste caso vocês, de contactar mais de perto o consumidor.
Vou ser vosso leitor atento.
Cumprimentos,
Miguel
Monday July 14th, 2008
Isabel muito obrigado pelo comentário. Deixe-me apenas rectificar que por aqui ainda se ouve o cante alentejano, principalmente durante a vindima.
Cumprimentos,
José Eduardo
Monday July 14th, 2008
É de “foras-da-lei” como vocês que este país precisa.
Parabéns pela iniciativa do blog.Continuarei a visitá-lo para acompanhar o vosso trabalho e os vossos vinhos maravilhosos.
Cumprimentos
Luis Perdigão
Monday July 14th, 2008
Miguel, muito obrigado. Retribuímos a atenção mantendo o pingaamor debaixo de olho.
Um abraço,
José Eduardo
Monday July 14th, 2008
Caro Luís,
O nosso muito obrigado pelo comentário. Volte sempre pois será sempre bem vindo.
Cumprimentos,
José Eduardo
Monday July 14th, 2008
Robert,
Nice to finally meet you too, and hearty congratulations on bitty Duncan McIntosh jr!
We are rapidly approaching our 13th harvest here at Cortes de Cima. I say rapidly, as this year we have an area of about 10 hectares of white wine varieties which we will be harvesting, and that shoots the harvest start date up by several weeks (almost always, white grapes are much earlier than red).
What experience has taught us time and again, is that vintage predictions are impossible to make. That said, we have experienced an unusually wet winter, a non-eventful flowering period (the best type!), and so far, a warm and dry summer. At the moment, the grapes are just hanging out there and soaking up lots of alentejan sunshine! And we are busy as always in the winery getting things in order for the next harvest.
Look forward to your visit and hope it is not too far off in the distant future, cheers, Carrie
Monday July 14th, 2008
Andrea, if you only live an hour away, you have no excuse not to come! Look forward to meeting you, Carrie
Saturday July 26th, 2008
Good for you! I’m excited to see a wine blog from Portugal as I am crazy about Portuguese wines. I loved them when I visited a couple of years ago. They’re somewhat difficult to come by in Ohio! All viticultural areas have challenges. I look forward to reading your adventures!
Saturday July 26th, 2008
Nancy, how nice to finally meet you, I have found your typepad very inspirational reading into what makes a winery tick (that foto of the car poking it’s headlights into the winery was a real chuckle!)
What an incredible vineyard setting you must have, perched on limestone ridge tops overlooking the Ohio River Valley. What bad luck with the frosts which have hit your white grape production 2 years in a row! And congratulations on making Tom Stevenson’s list not just once, but twice! Your “witchcraft” certainly does seem to be working.