The Lagare Collection--What Hipsters Wear to Tread
It's not everyday you get to see a fashion show in a wine cellar.
While visiting the wine museum, Enoteca Douro–Quinta da Avessada located in Favaios, we were shown a startling interactive display of how the grapes are stomped in the lagares--the low limestone vats used for making the wine throughout Portugal. In the video below we have three rather metro looking lads that appear to be direct from the runway. I love the authentic smear of grape juice on the one guys leg. It really gives it just the right amount of realism.
The interactive museum aims to give the visitor a feel for the live action of the harvest. Unfortunately some of the field displays have the unintended effect of a Roger Corman style zombie invasion in the vineyard.
The field displays were a sight to see for sure, and thankfully we saw them before the tasting, it's not something you want to deal with after drinking Moscatel do Douro first thing in the morning.
I seem to have lost all my notes from this tasting, but we tried several styles of Favaios otherwise known as Moscatel. The blazing hot summers and freezing winters make ideal conditions for growing these grapes. It was also freezing in the tasting cellar the day we visited, but a few sips of the sweet (but not cloying) wines with flavors of toffee, dates and honey was all anyone needed to take the chill off.
Some people needed more than a taste to take the chill off.
