July 10, 1998 Oporto, Portugal - R100GS 33053 R80G/S 44217 >From Luso, Bussaca (Bucaca), we drove straight up N1-IC3 staying off the main interstate thinking that interstates are always the most boring roads for a motorcycle. With hindsight, I think that would have been the better choice. We drove 100km (61 miles) on N1-IC3, a flat straight stretch, which appeared to be one giant unattractive industrial suburbia with a lot of traffic, and stops along the way. Despite Sharon taking great length to study the maps of Oporto determining how we would arrive and get to our selected hotel, the signs pointing us to the correct bridge were confusing, and we ended up on the wrong side of Portugal's 2nd largest city. We pulled out the map, and figured out where we were only to find out 1 block later we were wrong. Fortunately a little driving in our intended direction left us in the city center which we were able to navigate from. Sharon was frazzled with the busy traffic. We stopped roughly 4 blocks away from our intended stay, but through a twisty maze of one way streets, away from our hotel. Sharon went on foot. Our guide book had described this hotel as a hidden gem, a description not often used in Lonely planet guide books. Happening to like hidden gems, this was our target. Sharon came back 15 minutes later, with prior road stress dissipated, and a smile telling me we had a room and how friendly the hostess was. We drove the bikes there however first driving six more blocks out of our way due to the hilly cobble stone one way roads going in the wrong direction. Our hotel was located about as close to Vila Nova de Gaia, but still in Oporto as one could get, leaving us within stumbling distance of the port tasting. Vila Nova de Gaia is across the bridge from Oporto, and is where all of the port lodges are located. We have been looking forward to arriving in Oporto for over 14 months. Both Sharon and I are big fans of port wines. Sharon told me first off that she had read in the guide book (regarding the pronunciation of Oporto), "Don't say 'Oh-Porto', or you will sound like a foreigner. Just say 'porto'." She told me that the 'O' is an article like 'the' such that pronouncing it would be equivalent of say THE Chicago, or THE Boston and thus sounding weird to a Portuguese. Outside of our hotel, we walked down 297 steps and over a block to cross the Dom Luis I bridge, designed by Eiffel, which put us right next to all of the port lodges of Vila Nova de Gaia. This isn't like doing a Napa/Sonoma winery tour in tasting rooms that are separated by great walking distance since vineyards and tasting rooms are together there. Here, all of the vineyards are up stream of the Douro river. However all of wine storing and tasting, is done in the port lodges in Vila Nova de Gaia. As soon as we crossed the bridge, signs of many of the port lodges are visible, 600m to Taylor, 500m to Grahams, 800m to Barros, etc. Almost every Portuguese port lodge are concentrated within walking distance. ---- Friday, we visited Calem, Noval, and Taylor Fladgate. Calem took us on a nice tour of their winery... In Noval, I told them I'm looking for a '36 port, and that I was told this would be one of the best places to try. They said they have a '37 Colheita. Later I asked if they are doing any tastings of red ports. She said yes, and brought out a '74 vintage, and a 20 year old tawny. Beaming inside since they didn't bring out the standard ruby to taste, Sharon and I calmly sampled. They were excellent. Unfortunately this ruined us for any further tasting of the day. Both Sharon and I preferred the 20 year Aged tawny to the '74 vintage port. Both were around $32 per bottle. Taylor was closing as we arrived, so we weren't able to take their tour. Saturday we went to the port lodges of Vasconcellos, Graham's and Kopke. At Vasconcellos, of the four ports we tried, We liked their Reserve Superior which they claimed was a 30 year port. The oak flavor was nicely strong, and they sold this for 6500 Escudos. It tasted like a 20 year aged tawny, and was priced a little beyond this. Kopke is the oldest port lodge in town. Kopke has a 1900 vintage which they will be bottling, and selling for the year 2,000 for 300,000 Escudos (US$1657) for 750ml bottle. Kopke stores all of their wine in casks or barrels, bottles are filled to order. They said they only keep 2-3 bottles of each type on the shelf there. Wine can only be bought Monday through Friday when the barrel uncorkers are working. Sunday we visited Sandeman's, Barros, and Offley. Sandeman's is now owned by Seagrams. We actually paid money to take their over crowded and very touristy tour which was really no better than any other. We Sampled Sandeman's 8 year imperial tawny aged reserve.... $12 we thought it better than many other wineries 10 year tawnies ($8), but we wouldn't buy it. We also tasted their driest white. At Barros Imperial Tawny which is 5-6 year Barros 10 year aged tawny at $17 would consider buying. reminds me of the Yulumba 1991 LBV. They pronounce Barros like Bar-ohsh We didn't enjoy the Offley's ports we sampled. --------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- After touring 11 port houses, I decided to write down information that I had gathered about Port wine. I remember seeing a port wine internet FAQ that was pretty lacking. and so I might later assemble the information here for one. Skip the next couple pages if you're not interested in port wine. --------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- White ports turn darker with age, while red ports turn lighter as they grow older. In wood casks, the red ports turn from ruby (dark purple) to tawny (maroon) in color as they age, hence the names. ------- Brief description of the making process: Grape juice is yeast fermented into wine, then midway through the process, a grape wine brandy is added boosting the alcohol content to 20% and arresting the fermentation. The sweetness of a port comes from stopping the fermentation before all of the sugars are processed. A dry port is dry because the fermentation was allowed to go a little longer. -------- Vintage ports are suppose to be drunk within 24-72 hours of opening depending on which port lodge one talks to. Since most of the other ports are filtered before bottling, their shelf life after opening is much longer sometimes on the order of 1-6 months. ------- History... During 17th century British traders were cut off from their supply of clarets from Bordeaux by a trade war with France. England looked to Portugal as a new source, however the wine didn't travel well. Fortifying the wine with brandy came as a response to help the wine travel by sea better. Later, the port wines were experimented with to improve the flavor to what is sold today. Adding brandy to fortify the wine and produce what today is considered port wine was not standard practice until around 1850. ----- Grapes Used There are over 48 varieties of grapes used in port production. Of these 8 are the most common, 5 of which are red and three are white. Some of these include: Touriga Nacional, Touriga Francesa, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca, Tinto Cao, Malvasia Fina, Codega, Sousao, Bastardo. The grapes come from the upper Douro river valley, starting about 100km (61 miles) up the river from Oporto, and continuing up to the Spanish border. The demarcated region is far enough inland to be protected from the cold Atlantic breezes. Near western border with Spain, the vineyards are more sporadic interspersed with olive trees and considered more variable in growing conditions. Most port lodges ferment there wine in the upper Douro valley and between 6 months and two years ship it down to the cooler Oporto (Vila Nova do Gaia) region for storage and blending. The traditional method of shipping was in boats (called "barcos rabelos") down the Douro in the spring when the climate was cool and the river water high. The Douro has since been dammed in several places, and so has not been the means of transportation since 1956-1963. Road transportation is cheaper and safer. The upper Douro region is hot, getting above 38 degrees Celsius (100 F), It is far enough inland and is protected by the mountains from cold Atlantic breezes. It is very hilly, and has been terraced for farming. The planting ground is dry and mostly consists of schist rock. Some of the vine roots burrow as far as 40 feet into the soil. When new vineyards are planted, American root stock is grafted with local vines so as to maintain resistance to phylloxora which is still endemic in Europe. The rocky schist ground heats up during the day and stays warm during the night providing even warm temperature ideal for sugar production in the grapes. Grapes are harvested typically between the middle of September up to the middle of October. The grapes are crushed as they are harvested. Several of the port lodges promote their use of still using foot stomping as the best way for crushing the grapes as opposed to using a machine. "The gentle tread of the pickers' feet gradually extracts the rich color and tannins from the grape skins." - Taylor. Toe jam, and other farm peasant foot funguses add to the rich complex bouquet of the finest vintages fortifying them with character ;-) Graham uses machines to press the grapes for most of their ports, however they use foot stomping for their finest vintages. Sandeman's uses only machines, and stress sanitation as their advantage. The houses that use the traditional foot method typically have ~10 people lined up marching in place, knee deep in a rectangular cement vat of grapes with a conductor orchestrating the synchronized stomping, sometimes aided by a traditional band playing near by. The grape juice is then yeast fermented. After approximately 36-37 hours, the wine may go through a second stomping and is transferred to a secondary fermentation tank. At this point, about halfway through the sugar fermentation, the process is halted by the addition of brandy raising the alcohol level to 19-20%. This early arrest is the reason for port wine's sweet characteristic. The Portuguese grape brandy used is 77% alcohol. It is supplied by the I.V.P. or Port Wine Institute and comes from several sources throughout Northern Portugal. The brandy is made specifically for port production not intended to be consumed on it's own. Side note: In all the touristy towns of Portugal it's possible to buy hand made copper bulbous distilleries from 1 to ~200 liters size. In the spring, the young port is shipped down to Vila Nova de Gaia, along the left bank Douro river across from Oporto. Here the port lodges store, blend and bottle the port wine. The 550 liter (145 gallon) oak barrels, called pipes, are used typically for 40 years to store and age the wine. Afterward, some lodges sell them off to Scotland for the use in making Scotches since the port flavored barrels add a nice flavor to certain Scotches. The giant (25k-141k liter) oak vats are typically used for 70 years, and then the wood is discarded. The oak often comes from US or France, however according to one cooper the best oak may come from Russia, however this is not commonly used. The traditional construction method of glue made from water and flour is still used to bond the wood panels together. The barrels and vats are bound with iron bands which hold them together. The inside of the barrel is much rougher than the smooth outside. This increases the surface area inside the barrel. Port lodges are filled with storage barrels, and stacked vintage bottles. Some of the larger wineries store their young wines in stainless steal or fiberglass resin vats. The 20k to 141k liter oak vats are still the most commonly used for young ports. They are supported on concrete bases suspended several feet off the ground. The underside is painted white so that leaks can be more easily detected, and as a deterrent for flies. Typically, the finer wines are stored in the smaller barrels, not because there is less of it but rather so the ratio of oak surface area to wine is greater. The wine must breathe through the wood pores for the wine to age. Also, contact with the oak will impart a nice oak flavor to the wine. Over time, the pores of these barrels clog from sediment and crystal formation. Each year, the oak barrels are drained and the insides of the barrels are washed with water. Keeping the inside barrel walls clean accelerates the speed at which the wine will mature. A young Port wine stored in oak barrels will, over time, lose it's grapefruit flavor, and gain a caramel and vanilla flavor. The color will change from red or purple to a lighter tawny or maroon. The contents of the barrel will evaporate through the oak pores, Over a forty year period, only 66% percent of the original content will be left due to evaporation. Of course, having one's wine stock evaporate into thin air only adds to the cost of aging, and as a result, only a few port houses will produce a 40 year aged tawny, or colheita. The bottle vintages are stored horizontally in a dark locked shelf where they are not touched until they are retailed. Usually the cork in the bottle vintages are longer, and laying them horizontally keeps the cork moist and expanded sealing the contents. Untouched, sediment forms along one side. Before removal, splash marks are often added indicating which side should be up during consumer storage. The bottles are not labeled until retail since they would likely not hold up well in the damp climate they are stored in. Many of the floors of the port lodges are often of a moist sand gravel. These floors are sprayed with water to help keep the storage area cool. Sometimes wood cobblestone is laid down. These floors are preferred over concrete so as to help save the barrels from damage as they are rolled around the lodge. ------- Vintages A mild winter, followed by a hot summer characterizes a good year. The hot climate aides in the production of the sugars in the grapes. However, it's not truly known until long after when the wine matures. 1994 is considered one of the best vintages of the century among many of the port lodges. However since vintage ports age 2 years in the cask, and 10 years minimum in the bottle, this won't be ready until the year 2006. Wine Spectator gave the '94 Taylor and Fonseca vintage ports a 100 driving their price from $55 to over several hundred if one can find it. Many wineries are already out of their '94. Other special vintages according to Wine Spectator: '77 Fonseca, '63 Quinta do Noval National, '48 Taylor Fladgate. I stopped in Noval and asked about the above Noval. They have it for sale for around US$698 per bottle. I asked about their '94, they said they sell it for around $51, however the '94 Quinta National Noval sells for $456. Apparently the Quinta do National is produced from the only vines they have that were not killed off by phyloxora leaving only 8% of their vineyard. Only very good years are designated to be a year when a bottle vintage will be made. Each port lodge makes it's own designation of when this will be. Typically this happens three times a decade. Even so, a port lodge will only use their finest grapes for the bottle vintage. In some wineries, this may only account for 2% of their total harvest. Some commonly designated vintage years include: '95, '94, '91, '87, '85, '83, '77, '75, '70, '66, '64, '63, '62, '60, '57, '50, '37, '35 '00 Generally speaking, many bottled vintages start to pass their prime after 60 years. --------- The French are the largest consumers of port wine consuming more than three times that of the English, however the English closely followed by the Americans are the largest consumers of vintage ports. ------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Regulation on wine production and where the grapes come from began in 1757 when the Marques du Pombal laid down the rules due to corruption in the market of port wines. In 1933 the I.V.P. (Instituto do Vinho do Porto) or Port Wine Institute was formed to regulate many aspects of port production including farming, production, bottling, maturation, standard naming and classification. The I.V.P. guarantee is displayed on the neck of the bottle by a numbered paper seal. This seal is proof of bottling at origin and that the port wine has undergone I.V.P. approval. Frequently they visit the lodges inspecting wine stored in vats. I.V.P. supplies the brandy that is used in the fortification of the port. All of the following except vintage and crusted ports are filtered so will not throw sediment, also it may be drunk for up to 1-6 months after opening. Single year vintages include: Bottled Vintage ports - 2 years in cask, then bottled Late Bottle Vintage ports - 4-6 years in cask, then bottled Dated Tawnies (Colheita) - 7+ years in cask , then bottled Port stored in oak barrels tends to accelerate aging process not to mention give the port a nice oak flavor. As a result, a bottled vintage port will need more time to mature. A bottled vintage will likely taste younger and more tannic than the same vintage in a L.B.V. or a Dated Tawny (Colheita). The later two will have more oak flavor. Bottled Vintage Port always means the wine was aged 2 years in wood cask, and the rest in the bottle. and is the only port besides crusted that will age in the bottle. Minimum age before drinking is generally considered 10 years after bottling, which means 12 years after vintage. This is due to the initial tannin concentration being strong enough to age a long time (typically 60 years max). Some carry a white paint mark, called a "splash mark"... no doubt a euphemism made by a sloppy painter. The splash mark denotes the orientation the bottle should be stored such that the sediment continues to collect on the same side. The splash mark should point up. The Taylor splash marks look like an accident as if someone forgot to move the bottle from the shelf as they were painting the room. Grahams are a little neater. The vintage ports especially the older ones should be allowed to stand vertically 24 hours before they are opened. Vintage port should be decanted since deposits or crust is formed. The younger the vintage, the longer the time is needed to breath. An old vintage will oxidize much faster than a young vintage. The general rule is 2-3 hours if in doubt. Should be completely consumed within 24-48 hours. Grahams suggest 48 hours, or 96 if a vacuum vin cork is used. They are very sensitive to light, and so are sold in the darkest bottles (black glass). They are sensitive to air, so should be stoppered after their breathing time. Typically port houses only put their finest grapes into bottled vintage. Further, only the best years are declared by a particular port lodge to be suitable to have a bottled vintage. Usually this happens about three times a decade, and account for a tiny fraction of the entire harvest, sometimes as low as 2%. Single Quinta vintages are the same as bottle vintages, however they come from grapes from a single Quinta or vineyard. Late Bottle Vintage (L.B.V.) is aged 4-6 years in cask. It's a single year vintage. It's not intended to be aged in the bottle, and as such is bottled ready to drink. This bottle carries the vintage and bottling date on the label. It should not need to be decanted unless the bottle has been kept for two to three years. Taylor was the first port house to produce these. They were invented in response to hotels and restaurants who's guest may want only one glass of a vintage port. A true bottled vintage port will oxidize within 24-48 hours making this expensive to open. An L.B.V can be recorked and drunk later up to 1 month. Dated Tawnies (Colheitas) are a single vintage aged at least 7 years in a cask. They are bottled and ready to drink, not being intended to age in the bottle. This bottle carries the vintage and bottling date on the label and can sometimes be confused with a bottled vintage port. The bottling date of a bottled vintage will be two years after the harvest vintage where as a dated Tawny will be bottled 7 or more years after the harvest. Aged Tawnies these are the bottles that are labeled, 8, 10, 20, 30, 40 year old. They are a weighted average of the vintages in the bottle that have been aged in oak. Calem said their 20 year aged tawny is a 50:50 combination of 18 and 22 years old tawny. The current Grahams 20 year tawny is 50% '64, 40% '74, ~10% '87, 3% '94 for a total of 103%, and putting the weighted average around 27 years, older than 20, but younger than 30. They are ready to drink and will not improve in the bottle. The label shows the bottling year on the label. Unopened, Graham recommends that they be drunk within 3-6 years after bottling. These are the port lodges pride brew. They are the creation of the port lodge taster blending to make the characteristic style of the house. They shouldn't need to be decanted, and should be consumed within a month of opening. Vintage Character or Reserves, 3-6 years in cask depending on winery. These are blended wines. They are ready to drink immediately, and won't age in the bottle. The word 'Reserve' has a confusing different meaning depending on winery and style. Crusted: ages at least 3 years in cask. It is blended, and then further matures in the bottle; Some lodges say two years, other 6-8 years in the bottle. Like the vintage, this one can throw a deposit, and should be decanted. Ruby ports - All red ports are at one time ruby ports... ruby is a euphemism for young. As rubies oxidize aging in oak barrels, they change their color to a tawny (maroon) color and are called tawnies. When they are sold, they have aged 2-3 years. Ruby ports are typically the least expensive. They are bottled ready to drink, and will not mature with age. They can be stored up to 6 months after opening. Sometimes they are served chilled. White ports are aged at least 2-3 years in a cask. They are made from either red or white grapes. If red grapes are used, the skins are separated from the juice. White ports get darker taking on a golden yellow with age. It's uncommon to see them sold more than 15 years old. 6 years is a more typical maximum. In England it was traditional to mix a white port with lemon juice or lemonade. Often white ports are served chilled. Dry ports are generally considered a before dinner aperitif. The dryness of the wine is determined by how long the original fermentation was allowed to complete before the brandy was added. White ports often come in four styles: Lagrima - (translation: the tear)- a sweet white desert port Medium Dry Dry Extra Dry - often tasting most similar to a dry sherry or dry vermouth. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Port Protocol - How to drink a port: If you're sitting around a camp fire, let out a belch and say "pass da vino, por favor", take a one handed swig, and pass the bottle clockwise. Wipe off any excess dribble off your chin or else you may stain your clothes and/or be made fun of. For maximum formal occasions, here's the scoop: Generally, dry white ports are served as a before dinner aperitif, while the sweet white ports (like Lagrime), and all of the red ports are served as an after dinner drink. Of course personal preference and tailoring to the occasion over rules. Bottle vintage ports should be decanted. In this case, the bottle should be allowed to sit upright for 24 hours. After this time, the cork is gently removed. In the case of old vintages where the cork is so old and moist as to potentially disintegrate and possibly contaminate the port, iron tongs and ice may be used to crack the stem. Ice is used to cool the neck of the bottle while the fire heated iron tongs are placed around the neck of the bottle causing the bottle neck to snap and fracture separating the bottle neck with cork intact from the bottle. The wine is then poured slowly and carefully into a decanter. This can best be done with a light source such as a candle behind the neck of the bottle. Decanting should stop when cloudy wine enters the neck. Contraptions for decanting include screw bottle tilts which make it easier to steadily control the pitch and pouring speed of the bottle. Decanting funnels placed in the decanter not only make it easier to target the decanter but also provide a further filter for accidental cork residue. A vintage bottled port may need to breath for 2-3 hours depending on the age. Afterwards it should be stoppered in the decanter as these wines are very susceptible to oxidation, and should be drunk within 24-48 hours of opening. W.J. Graham's lodge says with a vacuum vin cork that 96 hours is the maximum. They were pouring '81 vintages. The older the vintage of the wine, the quicker it will oxidize. Traditionally the decanter is passed around the table clockwise allowing each person to fill their own glass. A large tulip-shaped wine glass is often considered ideal for appreciating the nose and flavor... i.e. one that captures the aroma and you can stick your nose in. Commonly people use small tulip glasses. 5cl is the typical pour. What to eat with the port depends on the characteristics of the port itself. Ideas include: English walnuts, almonds, dried fruit, golden raisins, strong cheeses like Stilton, full soft creamy cheeses, fresh peaches, raspberries, cantaloupe, fine chocolates, chocolate mouse, chocolate tortes, egg cakes, fruit cake, coffee flavored deserts. Main dishes could include: A nice tawny might go with foie gras, Indian curry dishes. blue cheese dishes. A dry white might go with a quiche. desert or appetizer: cantaloupe with port. In a chilled deseeded cantaloupe, pour a generous helping of a tawny. The melon juices will help bring out the caramel syrup flavor characteristic of an older tawny. The cantaloupe may be halved or just an opening in the top made. A small cantaloupe works best for this. --------------------------------------------------------------- There are approximately 70 port lodges in the Oporto area (Vila Nova de Gaia). Here is a subset. The date in parenthesis is the year of establishment. Andresen Barros Almeida (1913) Borges (1884) J.W. Burmester (1750) Bucherio (1717) Calem (1859) Croft Cruz Churchill Graham Cockburn Smithes Delaforce Sons (1868) Dow's (1798) Eufemia Ferreira Feist ? Fonseca Guimaraens (1822) Forrester W.J. Graham's (1820) Infantado (1816) Kopke (1638) Martinez (1790) Nieport Quinta do Noval Offley (1737) Osborne Pousada Porto Porto Pocas Ramirez (1859) Romariz (1850) Ramos Pinto, Adriano Real Vinicola Roze`s Sandeman (1790) Silva Smith Woodhouse Souza? Symington's Taylor Fladgate & Yeatman (1692) Vasconcellos Velha, Companhia Warre's (1670) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- additional tidbits... Despite projecting family run images, most have been gobbled by larger wineries forming conglomerations. Seagram's owns Sandemans, However George Sandeman is the general manager Taylor Fladgate & Yeatman owns Fonseca Grahams is owned by the Symington group who also own 60% of all the Madiera that is produced in Madiera. Barros owns Kopke ------ The port lodges seem consistent on pricing of aged tawnies in Oporto. In general, the cost is $16-$20 per decade of age. Only a small few houses have 40 year tawnies. -------------------------------------------------------------- ------- --- soalheira - Portuguese spelling of madiera solera? Borges has an 1870 vintage. ---------------------- tasting: syrup raisin, dried fruit flavors caramel LBV... more tannins. velvet ---------- Quinta do Noval distributor in the US: William Grant and Sons, LTD Mr. Michael Cittarela 130 FieldCrest Ave Raritan Center P.O. Box 4023 Edison, New Jersey 08818-4023 USA Tel 908 225-9000 Fax 908 225-0950 ----------------------- -------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------- End of port info ------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------- In Portugal, it's still possible to purchase real absinthe, called Absinto. I had thought this was banned throughout Europe for several decades. It's a drink known for it's hallucination properties. Wondering if this was the real thing I found in the liquor store, I checked the ingredients which listed essence of absinthe (wormwood), and sugar. This sold for 1685 escudos ($9.31), and was produced by Ferreira Duquxe. ---- Getting insurance in Oporto.... Our motorcycle insurance which appears to be required everywhere in Europe expired. We could only get 30 days on arrival in Spain. We stopped by the the Oporto tourist information office and asked it they could help us get our insurance. On the back of our Green card, it had listed an office for renewal in Lisbon Portugal. The assistance of the tourist info agency, we discovered that the Lisbon office didn't exist. It went under a different name and had another phone number. While they couldn't help, they reminded us of our obligation to have it. The tourist office agent said that one's vehicles could be confiscated if the police pulled over a vehicle driving without insurance. We were pointed to a major insurance issuer in Portugal. We visited the insurance office. It was clear they were not in the habit of issuing green card insurance to non-EU registered vehicles. Through much special permission we were allowed to purchase 14 days worth of insurance with a green card which would make it valid through out Europe. July 14, 1998 Guimaraes, Portugal - {Pousada de Santa Marinha da Costa} R80G/S 44278 R100GS 33121 The town of Guimaraes was the first capital of Portugal dating back to the 12th century. It's rich in history, and has a monastery renovated into a hotel considered in some of the guide books to be the finest around. With such hype, we went to Guimaraes only about 40km from Oporto. We left at 8:00am, took the toll road and checked into our hotel around 10:45. The problem being finding our way out of Oporto, and finding our way into Guimaraes, which turned out to be a very industrial town quite a bit larger in population that our book led us to believe. The monastery/hotel was built on a hill overlooking the town below. The walls are 1 meter (3.3 feet) thick solid solid stone. The long hall leading to the former monk rooms is a stone arch way stretching up over 20 feet. At one end of the hall is a covered terrace and fountain where we ate our dinner that night. There are several surrounding gardens and in the back is a forested landscape with cobblestone walkways that lead through the forest. In the central garden, Gregorian chants play reminding people of where they are. Since a monk's room might be a bit too cozy for a hotel room, they took out the inner wall combining two monk chambers to make one hotel room. Our bedroom has a recessed alcove into the thick stone wall which I supposes was for a monk to sit and read, or do whatever. There is also a small 1x1 foot window which seems odd given that the wall is so thick. We toured the old down town area... The new surroundings is engulfing this town that was so rich in history. There are a few attractive alleyways courtyards and castles, however it seems obvious that this town is not interested in enhancing this aspect. There's a kind of wine called green wine (Vinho Verte) that is popular in Portugal. The grapes for this wine are grown in a cool region. So cool that it's common for the grapes not to ripen, or form sugars necessary for a typical wine. I read that they are low on sugar, and high on malic acid (the unripe tartness). As a result they have to go through two fermentation processes. The first is a normal yeast fermentation consuming the sugar. The second is a malic fermentation using a bacterial culture to change the malic acid slightly. While it didn't sound that appealing, I figured Portugal is the only place one may be able to buy such a wine to try. Being the first time, I wanted to improve our chances at having a good first impression, so I bought the most expensive I could find at 359 Escudos (US$2). We drank this Vinho verte with our roasted chicken dinner and bread. bad choice. I think it would go better with pickles and tart olives. One person suggested sardines... The most (?only?) noticeable flavor was the tartness. It tasted like it was made from unripe grapes. At the same time, the sourness reminded me of a lambic beer (without fruit). In the future, I think I'll pass on this one. ---- Later had some cake for desert... chopped up walnuts in the frosting between cake layers... meanwhile I sipped on the tawny. The experience reminded me of walking into a stream of black light in a bar or amusement park and seeing the UV enhanced laundry detergent soap light up on my jeans. The walnuts just came out with the port. July 15-16, 1998 Barcelos, Portugal - {Residencia Arantes} Barcelos is known for it's Thursday morning market where all of the local go to buy everyday items. In the afternoon, I rode back into Oporto to pick up two special bottles of port wine. July 17, 1998 Braganca, Portugal - {Pension Rucha} The R100GS battery was dead. I had carried the battery up to our room and put it on the charger in the bathroom last night. The battery read 10.41 volts before charging. I remember hearing once that 10.5 volts is considered completely dead. The electrolyte level was fine, however I noticed two of the cells had dark discolorations. I plugged in the pocket size battery charger into the 110/220 volt converter and figured 9Ah were put into this 25Ah battery. Four hours on a 1 amp charge, and 8 on a 600ma trickle. By morning, the battery after a rest was reading 11.5 volts. I installed the battery, we packed up, and were ready to take off. I turned on the bike, the bikes volt meter read 11.5volts, and then pushed the starter. The starter solenoid rattled as it didn't have enough juice to stay open. Unfortunately, we were on a busy rough cobblestone road without a hill, and so I couldn't see us easily push starting the bike. I got out the jumper cables, and then removed the gear on the seat so that I could remove the seat which exposes the battery. I hooked up the battery cables, and and the R100GS started right up. We quickly reassembled the bikes, put our helmets and jackets back on in the sweltering heat making sure the idle was high enough on the R100GS such that it wouldn't die. Sharon hopped on her bike, and just as I was righting the bike off the kickstand, the R100GS died. Sharon sensing imminent explosion on my part said, "Ok, let's try it again." Fortunately two German motorcyclists we had met and briefly talked to a half hour earlier were walking by. Sharon told them we were having battery problems. They said, no problem it's a BMW, just push start it. The subtle hint worked, and we didn't have to ask. They helped push the R100GS, I popped the clutch in 2nd gear and the bike started right up. With the Euroswitch on the R100GS, I turned off all the lights such that only the bikes ignition was drawing power. The volt meter read the most it ever does at 13.5 volts. I believe the ignition system draws around 22 Watts. Theoretically, the charging system can supply 270 watts at 4000rpm (60mph), however in practice, I've found 200 watts a more realistic figure to base calculations on. The battery could be charging with the surplus 178 watts, however since this is way too much, I'm sure much is being lost to heat dissipation. After running the bike all day like this, only one of the three times we stopped was their barely enough power to start the bike with the electric starter. All of the other times, the bike was push started from the hill we intentionally parked on. Martin, a German friend we met in Cabo de Gata, Spain had given us a BMW directory. In it we discovered that their are only four BMW motorcycle dealers in Portugal, the closest of which was an hour in the wrong direction for us. Along our route, there was one listed in Vallodolid, Spain 300 miles away. We decided we would attempt to buy a battery there. We drove on a secondary road that took us on a beautiful infrequently used route from Braga to Chaves. I think it was one of the most beautiful and most fun motorcycle roads in Portugal. The road wound along the Cavado river through cedar forests, vineyards, and local small farms. Past Chaves, there was a lot of road construction, and the road quality dropped. As we were passing a parked dump truck, going about 30mph. A shirt-less construction worker, jumped out of his truck, walking across the road with his arms stretched, not looking behind him to see if any traffic was coming. Sharon slammed on her brakes, blasted the horn, and screamed at the same time, since he had left her no where to go. Fortunately she stopped in time. His face turned from shock to a red faced smile of extreme embarrassment. Further up the road, we stopped to have a rest and a little snack. Sharon chose the spot because it was on the hill should we need to push start the R100GS. Good idea, since the battery wasn't holding it's charge, and we did need to roll start it down the hill. The R80G/S fell over it's kickstand. We picked it up and noticed that one of the bolts on the top box was missing. Fortunately we had a spare, and I replaced it. Further down the road we stopped again at a small bar on a hill to get something to drink since this hot climate was dehydrating us. Sharon pulled the kickstand cable pull, and the cable broke leaving the handle in her hand. This day was so full of problems it was becoming comical. I was able to tie the kickstand pull cable back together. Our expectations for the day were dwindling. We had ambitious plans of making it to Burgos, then Valladolid, and now hot and exhausted, we pulled into a camp ground considering staying there. It turned out to be what we call a K.O.A, since that's the equivalent in the states. They are the most developed and least desirable, but most prevalent in the Iberian peninsula. The charge per vehicle, tent and per person total is 2000E. We stopped in Braganca, found a hotel, and were pleasantly surprised at what a nice little town it was on the North East corner of Portugal. Next to our dinner in Bussaco, we had one of our best dinners in Portugal. We ate at a restaurant called Pocas. For an appetizer, Sharon had the most delicious Caldo Verde (Portuguese cabbage potato soup) that she had in Portugal. I ordered a melon with port which was a small chilled cantaloupe with a hole in the top and seeds removed, holding a generous portion of port wine. It was wonderful. The port tasted like just a tawny, however as the cantaloupe juices mixed, it took on characteristics of a reserve, vintage character or even an aged tawny. As a main course, I had "grilled kid on the coals". Being an adventurous eater, but not a cannibal, I double checked the Spanish and Portuguese translation which translated it as "cabrito", or baby goat. By itself, the kid was delicious. I had asked the waiter for a recommendation on a wine pairing and he chose the most perfect compliment. It was a Porta D Dinis '94 Reserva from the Douro valley, and it tasted like a heavy Bordeaux. I don't think there could have been a better wine to have with this dish, and it only cost 1000E ($5.50). Sharon had a grilled veal tenderloin with mushrooms which was also delicious and went well with the wine. Sharon ordered the melon with port as a desert, while I ordered a glass of muscatel to go with the muscatel ice cream which came with raisins, chocolate, hazel and pine nuts sprinkled on top. While the muscatel ice cream was nothing special since I could feel the polysorbate 80, the toppings on the pre-made icecream were wonderful with the glass of muscatel. July 19, 1998 Estella (near Pamplona), Spain - {Pension San Andres} R80G/S 44632 R100GS 33366 We were on the road by 7:00am. Our intention being to get as much driving through central Spain before the hot afternoon. It was so cool this morning, that I wore my jacket liner while Sharon wore a polar fleece. We entered Spain, and the time jumped forward an hour to European time 2+GMT. We made great time on the flat, straight, relatively wide Spanish highways. We drove through Zamora, Valladolid, Palencia, Burgos, and Logrono. We stopped in Estella/Lizzara, a pretty little town about 20 miles West of Pamplona. Our guide book described Pamplona as being crowded with tourists, with hotels charging four times their normal fare during the first two weeks of July when they have the running of the bull festival. Those not so lucky, sleep in the parks. This tourist boom made popular since Hemmingway wrote a novel on the running of the bulls in Pamplona. Estella is far enough away to not share in this. I went on a search for a place to stay. I checked out the campground. The swimming pool was bubbling with too many people, and the campground was so densely packed such that spotting it from a distance turned me away. I haven't seen an attractive campground in the Iberian peninsula... I don't understand why the Spanish like camping. With much effort, I found us a hotel room in town on a relatively quiet pedestrian square. I went back to the gas station I dropped Sharon off at, told her about it and we drove there. Just as we arrived in front of the hotel, as I was putting the bike into neutral the gear shifter broke off. I was too hot and tired to give it any consideration at that time, and waited until after dinner to examine it. The shift lever appeared to have fractured long ago in several places, and just happened to break the rest of the way now. I couldn't have been more fortunate than for it to break when and where it did, as it would have left me stuck unable to change gears until fixed. The current list of problems with the motorcycles all of which have cropped up in the last couple days include: - The gear shifter fractured (R100GS) - The engine crash bar is collapsing where it supports the kick stand. As a result, the bike leans way over (R80G/S) - Engine idle is very rough.... carburetors are out of sink. (R80G/S) - The battery on the R100GS is dead creating the need to always park on a hill for a roll start. - The oil needs changing on both bikes.. - Right aluminum pannier and top box need welding (R80G/S) The last two are not new. July 20, 1998 Estella, Spain My plan today was to go into Pamplona where my book listing BMW dealers said their was a motorcycle dealer. After breakfast, I called the BMW dealer, Javier Motos, in Pamplona, to ask if they had a battery for the R100GS. The conversation (in Spanish) went something like this: "Javier Motos, talk to me" "Hello, I would like to buy some parts for a motorcycle, I would like to buy a battery" "What type of motorcycle do you have... Yamaha or B.M.?" "B.M." "B.M.???, what is B.M?" "I have a BMW" "Oh, BMW, What model BMW do you have?" "I have a '92 R100" (I couldn't remember how to say "G" for GS) "'92, there is no such model as an R100" "I have a '92 BMW, I need battery model 25. Do you have this battery?" (Since 1970, BMW only used two different size batteries, a 20Ah, and a 25Ah, In '92, all of their motorcycles used the 25Ah.) "25 batteries! We don't have that." "No, I only need one battery. I would like only one battery, model 25, do you have this?" "Wait a moment..." (Another person gets on the phone, speaks fast slurred Spanish heavy on the Basque accent) "Hello, may I help you?" "Hello, I would like to buy one battery model 25 for my BMW." "model 25??, the big battery?" "yes, the big battery. Do you have one?" "yes." "How much does it cost?" "blah blah blah... credit card.. blah blah blah.. see you later" "Ok, thanks, bye." While I couldn't understand his Spanish on the cost, in my mind, his long answer translated to "so expensive that you probably don't want to ask, just bring your credit card." I got my gear together, and drove to Pamplona fighting a strong headwind which must always be there since they have built power generating windmills all along the Southern edge. I arrived in Pamplona without a map, and pulled into the first gas station I found to ask for directions. The guy rolled his eyes when I asked and said it's going to be complicated, since it's a little street on the far end of town. He told me enough to get me started in the correct direction. However, after the first turn, his directions no longer matched up with what I was seeing. I stopped again and asked a security guard in front of some building. He told me to wait a moment, and came back with a tourist map of Pamplona. He showed me where I am, and where I want to get to on the map. Excellent. I thanked him and was off. I followed a main road through the center of town until I ran into where it was blocked off due to construction. This led me into a maze of one way streets. Of course with traffic moving as it does in a city it's not always possible to look at one's map, and compare it to street signs as one goes. An hour after first arriving in Pamplona, I found Javier Motos. Unfortunately, they had just closed 12 minutes earlier for a 2.5 hour siesta lunch, and there wasn't a soul around. The sign said they would be open again at 4:00pm. I found a bar around the corner and had a sandwich. This part of town was new, and not very interesting, so I went back downtown to the older section. All the shops were closed. The entire town, except for a few tourist souvenir shops were closed. I walked around for a while, then hung out on a shaded bench in a park. Some rough looking street sleeping European travellers were sprawled out on the cement. They looked like they had spent all their money on body piercings, People watching helped passed the time... I went back to the BMW dealer at 4:00pm when they were scheduled to reopen. I went into the main office. While there was no one on the show floor, there were three female clerks upstairs socializing. When I was able to get one of their attention. I was directed across the street and told to ask for Jose. I did. A mechanic across the street asked what I wanted. I told him a battery, He said "You want to talk to Jose. just wait"... Another mechanic asked if he could help," I asked if he was Jose. nope, but pointed to another guy who had been running around looking busy, but never clearly doing anything." I caught his attention and he said he would be with me in a moment. I watched him run around looking busy, never clearly seeing that he was doing anything but run around. After ten minutes, my patience was getting thin. I got his attention again. He had forgotten I wanted a battery, and asked me again what I wanted. I told him. He wrote down the part number, and said I needed to pay across the street. I walked across the street. The three woman were busy doing some paper work, one was on the phone. There were no customers to be seen. I made my presence known, and proceeded to wait. While waiting, I noticed they sold strawberry scented two stroke motor oil. I picked up the bottle to examine if this was a joke. Nope! You can make your scooter, snow blower or other 2-stroke engine belch strawberry scented smoke! Such a goofy product belongs in a store like this... I got the girls attention again, and told her I would like to pay. She accepted my visa card, asked to see my passport with it. This was a first. I showed her, and she rung up the total. The cost of the battery came to $125. There was a $22 fee for battery acid, and a 16% tax. Two years ago, this battery cost me $80. Back in the US, I had hypothesized that BMW products might be cheaper in Europe since they are closer to the source. Not true. Jose had the battery ready for me. For some reason, he pulled off the BMW date sticker which is used for the guarantee, and stuck on a Javier Motos date sticker. The former, any BMW dealer should honor, the later, only Javier Motors would which would be fine if I was planning only to drive around Pamplona for the next 12 months. I still had one last request that I hoped Jose could help me with. The carburetors on the R80G/S seemed to be out of synchronization. Although back home, I've seen several mechanics synchronize them by ear, I don't trust myself to do this without a set of mercury gauges. Often this takes a trained mechanic a couple minutes and they won't charge. I asked Jose about it. He listened, and said, "they need to be cleaned". I just had them dissembled and cleaned in a sonic degreasing bath in Buenos Aires approximately 500 miles ago. I was certain they didn't need cleaning, and told him so. He again replied, "they need to be cleaned." and then walked away. I decided Javier Motors could do nothing more for me, and so I left Pamplona driving back to Estella. The twits I had encountered still heavily on my mind... ----- In the evening, I changed the engine oil in both the R80G/S and R100GS in back of a gas station in town. I used the Shell semi-synthetic 20W50 that I had bought in Morocco anticipating it would be cheaper there than anywhere else in Europe. This hunch later turned out to be true by a factor of 3-4. ----- We discovered an incredible wine at such a bargain price that I would have bought all the store had if I could have gotten it home. It was an '89 Gran Irache from Ayegui Spain which is in the Navarra region. Navarra is the next region over from Rioja and not as well known which I think makes it cheaper. The wine was peaking. I'd enjoy it at 8 times the price. We drank three bottles over two nights, and would have had more if the liquor store that sold it hadn't closed before I could go back for more. ---- Dave Thompson thompson@pdnt.com www - http://sdg.ncsa.uiuc.edu/~mag/Thompson Net-Tamer V 1.09 Palm Top - Registered