Photo: courtesy of ViniPortugal

In Chinese, Portugal is called Putaoya, or "grape teeth," in reference to its sweet grapes, but in spite of that Portugal usually scores higher for its football feats than for its award-winning wines. To counter that injustice, the second edition of the Grand annual Portuguese wine tasting happening next Thursday at the Hilton Beijing Wangfujing is an opportunity to discover how savory Portuguese wine is. The event includes a seminar and a tasting session where 29 of Portugal's best wineries and winemakers will present 300 different wines representing Portugal's major wine-producing regions.

"This red is so smooth; I recognize the aroma of red fruits combined with hints of wood and spices," said Alan Zhu, 27, office manager with a wine consultancy company, taking a sip of a Portuguese blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in Beijing. "I only wish I could memorize this name, Quinta da Bacalhoa. Unfortunately, besides the Douro [wine region], which is short and easy to remember, it's quite difficult to keep all these names."

"Portugal must take advantage of its Mandarin name and present itself to the Chinese market and consumers as a wine country," said wine educator Huiqin Ma, who'll conduct the wine seminar Wines of Portugal - a World of Difference at the event. "We're talking about more than 300 native grape types that produce wine styles ranging from light dry fruity whites to classic full-bodied reds, with sweet dessert wines like Porto, sparkling vinho verde [green wine] and even rosé."

The second edition of the event organized in Beijing by ViniPortugal, the Portuguese Wine Trade Association, aims to demonstrate the relevance and importance of the China market for Portuguese wine. "China is set to become the largest wine market in the world, so we hope to build a strong relationship with Chinese wine professionals to spread the word about the high quality of Portuguese wines amongst Chinese consumers," said Jorge Monteiro, ViniPortugal's president. "Our high quality Portuguese wine has outstanding value for money. Today, at all price points, the wines are still undervalued, yet the finest examples can compete with wines from any nation."

In the words of the famous Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa: "Life is good, but (life with) wine is better."

Grand Annual Portugal Wines Tasting

Date: October 27, 2 pm - 7 pm

Address: Hilton Beijing Wangfujing Hotel,8 Wangfujing East street, Dongcheng distirct

Tel: 5812-8888