“100 great wines from Portugal”, the book that is also a work of art – Current events
“100 great wines from Portugal” (Zest Books edition) is a bilingual work, in Portuguese and English, which includes a selection of wines and texts by journalist and wine critic Maria João de Almeida. The objective, expressed by the author, is to “reinforce the quality of Portuguese wines, but also their internationalization”. Two personalities from the sector were invited to write the prefaces, the English wine critic Julia Harding (Mestre do Vinho), and the President of ViniPortugal, Frederico Falcão. The work featured creative design by M&A Creative Agency, and final graphic production by VOX.
Through a selection of whites, reds and sparkling wines, and even some rosés, we get to know in the pages of “100 great wines of Portugal” as stories of many national producers, the different production methods and understanding the logic and reasons of each winemaker when he made a particular wine.
Maria João de Almeida says: “those who know the history and reality of Portuguese wines know very well how their quality has been added in recent years. It is therefore easy to imagine the difficulty of this choice of the ‘100 great wines from Portugal’, as many wines of great quality are recognized abroad”.
Also according to the journalist: “Several times, I found myself between the sword and the wall when I had to listen for this or that wine. But life is still, made up of choices, and I know that the range of wines chosen is a source of great pride for Portugal”.
“There are many years dedicated to the world of wine. And it was only with these accumulated years that I dared to think of a project of this nature, which requires a deep knowledge of the offer that exists in the market. It was, without a doubt, a missing book. We are already internationally researched, industry professionals already recognize the great quality of our wines, but there is still a lot of work to be done with the general public”, says Maria João de Almeida. And he concludes: “the idea that has to prevail among consumers worldwide is not the cheap price of our wines, it is our quality. A quality represented here by premium and top-of-the-range wines that result from our genuine terroirs and many of our grape varieties”.
The idea of photographing bottles with an object that told the story of the producer, a region or its varieties came from the author, who had no doubts in challenging the M&A Creative Agency to produce it. “The project that was presented to us could only give rise to an aesthetically remarkable book. A distinct visual concept had to be created, that’s why we made a deep effort to make this book a work of art, a memorable edition”, says Luís Marques, CEO of M&A Creative Agency.
“Zest Books has been a publisher specialized in the areas of wine, gastronomy and tourism for years and, after studying the market, we found that our country lacked a remarkable work like this one, which would last. Maria João was the right person to write it, and the entire technical team together to make this project work. We are very proud of the final result, I have no doubts that it will be something to talk about”, says Nuno Seabra Lopes, editor of Zest Books.
The book is priced at 70 euros and can be purchased through the website. Zest Books or in bookstores.