You live in the north of Portugal. What makes it so special?
Portugal is a country the size of Lake Superior (roughly the size of Taiwan) — and yet the diversity from top to bottom is enormous. The north is more rugged. The people here have survived for centuries on granite, forests and ocean, and there's a deep pride that comes from that. It shapes everything.
Describe Portuguese wine in five words.
Historic. Diverse. Surprising. Delicious. Gastronomic. Wine here is made for food — any wine in Portugal will always be better with a good meal.
And the wines of the north specifically?
Diverse. Elegant. Determined. Friendly. The north is where the majority of Portugal's wine regions are concentrated — an extraordinary range from light fragrant whites to big bold reds. I say determined because the granite and slate soils produce wines that don't come easily. There's a stubbornness to them. And friendly, because these wines always go better with good company.
You visit family-owned vineyards and taste straight from the cellar. Tell us more.
We don't take you places unless we know the people. Nine times out of ten they are close friends. We walk into the cellar with the winemaking family — sometimes the fourth or fifth generation — and taste from barrels, private stock, whatever they want to show us. Sometimes they pull out a bottle grandpa made twenty years ago that even I didn't know existed. Taking you there isn't me showing off places I love. It's me visiting people I love, and bringing you along to be part of that. I take you drinking with my friends. That's exactly what happens.
If someone isn't a dedicated wine lover, can they still join?
Absolutely. We've had people on our trips who don't even drink wine — and they loved it. Because it's never really about the wine. It's about the families, the stories, the history of why people are where they are. Wine is just the lens.
How can we be more sustainable in how we enjoy wine?
Use wine as a lens to understand the world better. Know the people who make it. Buy from the cellar door when you can — it supports the winery far more than buying through an importer. And bring stories home. Stories help the world understand itself better. That, in the end, leads to a more sustainable planet.
Do you make your own wine?
I own a few vines and have made a couple of bottles. No desire to make a big brand — just really good wine to share with friends and visitors. We also recently took on a small property to regenerate the soil and grow our own vegetables. Eventually we want to invite people there for meals, cooked from our own produce.
Favourite food in Portugal?
Grilled fish. Straight from the sea to the table. The Portuguese take something simple and make it taste like it came from heaven. With a nice glass of wine, of course.
Ryan Opaz is a Certified Port Wine Educator, Knight of the Port Wine Brotherhood, and co-author of Foot Trodden: Portugal and the Wines That Time Forgot, named the New York Times Best Wine Book of 2021.