Two weeks ago, my boyfriend and I decided to take a weekend holiday up North to Guimarães, though each of us seemed to have different intentions for going. I wanted to visit all the wineries of Minho and enjoy a series of tastings, while he just wanted to relax and take it easy. In the end, he won since all of the wineries were closed for the August holiday; but the very Friday night we drove up, I was able savor as dish that I have been waiting a year to taste and ended up enjoying one of the best meals I’ve ever had!

If you do decide to drive up north from Lisbon, mostly likely, you’ll be taking the Estrada National, or National highway, which is about the only major highway in the area. The highway goes right through the town of Mealhada in the region of Bairrada, a small town but popular throughout the country for its Leitão Assado da Bairrada. What is this? Well, its the most succulent suckling pig that you’ll find anywhere! Actually, it’s not quite a suckling pig; the piglets used are between a month and a month and a half old and have been weaned, weighing an average of 6 to 10 kilos. Originally from towns of Covões and Cantanhede, about 10km east, Leitão Assado has been regarded as the richest gastronomic traditions of the region and Mealhada takes pride in roasting their acorn fed piglets in brick ovens fueled by the aromatic eucalyptus bark. The result is a soft and intensely flavorful meat that flakes right off the bone, accompanied by very crispy, golden-orange skin. Additionally, they drizzle a very …

For those of you just tuning in, last week, we asked you to participate in a Cava Wine Quiz! 13 questions were posed to those brave enough to press “T” for true and “F” for false. Tough, we know, but we enticed you into participating by offering a Free Catavino T-shirt. Did I mention, FREE? Thick and warm, it’s the perfect t-shirt to to drink cava in, re-gift to a friend, use as a wine glass cleaner…the possibilities are truly endless.

Today, Catavino promised to announce the grand winner of our Official Cava Wine Quiz, but strangely enough, we’ve drawn a tie. Of the handful of people who casted their votes, at least two answered 10 of the 13 questions accurately - keeping in mind that 2 of the 13 questions could have either been answered either True or False. Therefore, Catavino has decided to create the final and ultimate round of our Cava Quiz. We’re calling it: The Ultimate Cava Question!

Guess what? Anyone can participate! Even if you didn’t participate in the last quiz, you can now enter in this one. And to ensure a single, solitary winner, we’ve fashioned the game based on a number, similar to counting jellybeans in a jar! Even though I was always off by a couple thousand colorful beans, you can use your power of logic, intuition, and, well…Internet searching skills to find the right answer. Whoever gets closest to the correct answer, wins! Come on…give it a try! Put your answer in the comment section below!

The Ultimate Cava Question: In 2006, how many bottles of Cava were exported to the USA?

Bonus Points: In which month is 50% of all Cava sold?

And for those of you interested in the answer to our last …

Editor’s Note: During our month long dedication to Cava wine, we’ve made a little detour to the west, bringing you a unique style of sparkling wine elaborated in the heart of Portugal. However, when starting this article, I quickly realized that I dove into a subject that few have tackled. What is listed in wine encyclopedias, wine journals, websites and Portuguese books barely skim topic as to what defines a Portuguese sparkling wine. Try looking for information on exports, pricing or major producers, and you might as well throw in the towel. Hence, what I’ve compiled below is my best effort at trying to understand this topic with the help of from Viniportugal (Thank you Maria Joao!). I will be adding more details to this article, or posting additional articles, on the topic. In the meantime, if anyone can offer information, please don’t hesitate to chime in! I would love for us to put together something more comprehensive, and dare is say, accurate.

For those of you who can time travel back to August, when we attended a mask exhibit and wine tasting in Lisbon, you may remember an article where we essentially gushed adoringly over sparkling wines made by Murganheira, a Portuguese wine producer based in the Tras-o-Montes region. Today, with a bottle of Quinta da Lixa Espumante Bruto from DOC Vinho Verde, sitting in front of me, we thought it would prudent for us to give you a more expansive understanding of what it means to produce sparkling wine in Portugal.

Espumante, pronounced esh-pu-man-te, is the Portuguese version of a sparkling wine. And unlike Cava, produced solely in northern climates, Espumante is not only produced in the northern wet region of Vinho Verde, …

This month, we’re focusing on Cava with the intent of exploring a style of sparkling wine that often takes a backseat to Champagne during the holiday season. To me this fact is understandable, and for me personally, this isn’t indicative of something negative for Spain wine mainly because I’ve always loved the underdog. As a kid, I often found that when my local sports team was doing well I drifted off and paid less attention. Maybe, I’m just a fan of drama, or merely a masochist. But for me, the upward struggle from nothing, or the fight against an established norm, has always been appealing. Ask my parents. They’ll attest to my non-conformity, and probably, will go on to tell you stories I rather not admit to. Therefore, I have an affinity for Cava, as it is the soft spoken little guy. Even here in Spain, people often mention Cava as something that plays second fiddle to Champagne, and surprisingly enough, during the holidays with an abundance of value and quality right at their finger tips, many Spaniards still turn to their neighbor’s bubbles before pouring a Cava from their own country (this does not extend to any other substance in the Spanish culture mind you).

All month, we’ll be talking about Cava in one way or another, so I don’t need to talk any more about Cava’s history or quality of value, but I do want to mention its uniqueness and what this means to me in the context of the wine world as a whole. It seems everywhere you turn today, people are decrying “Parker” wines, oak monsters, over extraction, manipulation, and “sameness” in wines. I can’t open my Google reader containing over 50 wine blog feeds and …

Hah! How about these photos to wake you out of your lazy Monday slumber! Makes you think twice before making a big toothy grin at someone after drinking a few glasses of port, doesn’t it? Ahhh, but it’s worth it. If you should find yourself with a purple tongue from firm tannins completely saturated in inky, dark colors, we encourage you to smile; because hopefully, you’ve just drank the nectar of the Gods.

Over the month of November, we’ve had an incredible experience learning about the history, the culture, the winemaking practices and the various different styles of port such as ruby, tawny, vintage, LVB and Colheita.

We also had an opportunity to discover two very different Port houses: Sandman and Quinta de la Rosa. While Sandeman is an internationally renowned port house currently under the portfolio of a large Portuguese wine company called Sogrape, Quinta de la Rosa is an independent, family-run quinta that aims to both produce quality port wine, and at the same time, provide opportunities for wine lovers to learn about the port making process.

Finally, we chatted about one of our favorite food pairings with port wine chocolate, and how this rather unlikely pairing lends itself to some of the worst and best experiences depending on both the style of port and the type of chocolate.

So, what’s next? Throughout the month of November, we eluded to a PDF containing all of our port wine recommendations, which we would release at the end of the month; however, in light of some late participants, we’ll be releasing the PDF at the end of the week. Additionally, we would like to offer our deepest …