Savouring a taste for the good life

The sound of Portuguese being spoken instantly lulls me into a relaxed, holiday mode. After a week touring the vineyards of the Alentejo wine region east of Lisbon, I too may have had a slightly slurred, relaxed manner of speech, although my Portuguese pronunciation was still way off the mark.

We persevered with the language though, reciting the new-to-our-ears grape varieties with glee: trincadeira, touriga nacional, antão vaz, aragonez, verdelho. Not common names ...