Evidence of evolution at AWS

Its 250-strong membership and the management committee both increasingly reflect a younger, more diverse mix of wine lovers, evident among the 80 attending the Annual General Meeting event held on Friday 22 March at the Sheraton Pine Cliffs Resort.

This year’s dinner was accompanied by wines from the Quinta do Perdigão family winery in the Dão, presented by José Perdigão accompanied by his artist wife Vanessa – whose designs feature on the bottle labels - and son Noel. Kicking off the wine selection was the Espumante Bruto Rosé Noel Perdigão (awarded the best sparkling wine in Portugal by the Portuguese Sommeliers Association), followed by Quinta do Perdigão Encruzado DOP 2023, accompanying beef carpaccio with endives and truffle remoulade.

Seafood linguini was paired with Quinta do Perdigão Rosé DOP 2021, followed by pork tenderloin with grilled asparagus and a choice of reds to compare: the Perdigão Touriga Nacional DOP 2016 and the Noel Perdigão blend 2015. The dinner rounded off with tiramisu and Grahams’ 10 year old Tawny Port. Once again the high standard of the cuisine and service from Pine Cliffs was much appreciated as well as the quality wines, enthusiastically ordered by many members.

At the earlier AGM, a presentation was made to long-time President of the Assembleia Geral, Michael Savage, who handed on the baton to Gaynor Stapleton.

The evening concluded with dancing to music from popular duo Wild Guitars.

More information on Quinta do Perdigão at https://www.facebook.com/quintadoperdigao1/ and about the AWS at www.algarvewinesociety.com