Wine in Azores 2023

António Carvalho, born in Felgueiras in 1946, began by being the owner and manager of several restaurants in the North and South of the country, until the day he decided to also assume the leadership of the kitchen and dedicate himself exclusively to his Coat of Arms, a restaurant with 45 years, recognized with several Gold Diplomas in the Vinho Verde and Gastronomy Competition, in the Gastronomy with Port Wine Contest and in the Cod Revolt. Collector of wines and antique brandies and passionate about Portuguese cuisine and good product, he makes traditional cuisine of comfort, although with the airy vision of a man much traveled and full of will to live. Among the numerous distinctions, Chef António Carvalho was distinguished at the National Congress of Cooks (CNC) this year for his work in favor of Portuguese gastronomy.

The smell of smoke coming from the kitchen of his parents' restaurant, the lit wood ovens, the vibrant color of the clay bowls and the exposed smokehouses were always very present in António Queiroz Pinto's life. He grew up between the kitchen and living room of the historic Pensão Borges, in Baião, the village where he was born. The passion was blatant. The internship at Casa de Calçada with Chef Vítor Matos and, later, the experience at Dos Cielos, in Barcelona with “Hermanos Torres”, opened the necessary doors for a more evolved type of cuisine. Returning to Portugal in 2014, his biggest challenge arose: heading the Tormes restaurant, at the Eça de Queiroz Foundation — a responsibility he welcomed. The first task was to draw on the Portuguese writer's literature and the thousands of gastronomic references he makes in his works and transform them into something tangible, based on the region's cuisine. To the appreciation for the writer is added respect for local products and their good preparation and conservation. It is no coincidence that 90% of the ingredients he uses in the kitchen originate in Baião, whether from António's garden or local producers. Baião's pride speaks louder when the cook comments on the luck of being located between the Douro and the Serras, of having the river's fish very close by, as well as the Arouquesa breed pastures and the herds of Marão goats.

Francisco Gomes graduated in Management and Accounting in 1997, having taken over the management of the family business, the A Colonial pastry shop in Barcelos, with his parents. However, management was not enough for his creative, restless and irreverent spirit, he needed to literally get his hands into the “dough”, give free rein to his imagination and his passion, pastry, and between 1999 and May 2021 he was responsible for the development of restaurant desserts and pastries, for the family business. It was there that, among other cakes, he created the now emblematic Bolo das Cruzes in 2007. In 2001, he entered the Petit Four course at Escola da Pontinha and from then on he never stopped, taking several courses at L'ecole Valrhona, Ecole Ferrandi and Atelier Pierre Hérme, whose work he closely follows, alongside the training and of bibliographical updating and constant study, as he is an aficionado of books/articles in the area, he travels and attends the various gastronomic and pastry events in Europe, reference restaurants, pastry shops and the like, in order to stay up to date and feed the his passion for gastronomy. Of particular note are the pastry internships held in some of the best restaurants in the world, such as El Celler de Can Rocca (the best in 2013, chosen by Aqua Panna S.Pelegrino) in Spain and Mugaritz (the 4th best in 2013, elected by Aqua Panna S.Pelegrino). In March 2015, he was the invited pastry chef for a pastry class and jury in an elimination test on the television program Masterchef and the following year he returned, but this time for Masterchef Junior. It should also be noted that in June 2010, he was one of the young Portuguese chefs that the President of the Republic, Aníbal Cavaco Silva, honored, and was one of the few who gave those present a taste of his delicacies.

Nuno Castro, 38 years old, businessman and executive chef at Fava Tonka. He decided to change his economics course to join the kitchen. He started at Sheraton spinning plates, but soon realized that it would be in the United Kingdom where he would begin his studies and travels, which would later inspire him. Between kitchens and walls, back in Portugal, Nuno not only expresses his creativity through the kitchen but also in graffiti. Today, and after several stints at iconic restaurants in the city of Porto, he is at Grupo do Avesso where he applies all his skill sets, manages and operationalizes the gastronomic part of all the group's concepts. When he has free time he returns to graffiti!!

Chef at the Verdial restaurant. From an early age, he demonstrated his passion for cooking, linked to his origins, and closely follows the traditions and customs of his land. He began his journey as a cook at the company ArisDouro, and has the opportunity to work at emblematic establishments such as the Doc, Dop and Casa de Chá da Boa Nova restaurants, where he was part of the team that won the first Michelin star for the restaurant. He participated in taste editions cooking competitions, where in 2017 he competed in the national final for young gastronomy talent. He worked as Sous Chef at the Ammar e Leça da Palmeira restaurant, which, as a result of the pandemic, left him some extra time for his teaching role. Currently, due to his strong connection to the land and sense of belonging, he has settled in Felgueiras, where he works as chef at the Verdial restaurant. At the same time, he takes the food and its essence to his clients' homes, at private dinners and lunches, with the most varied concepts. “If it weren’t for his love for cooking, he would declare all his love for the land and would become a farmer.” Although this is not a completely abandoned project, he expresses his love for the planet through contact with nature, which brings him the calm and serenity that characterizes him. ”

Renato Cunha, born in 1975, is the chef and owner of Ferrugem Restaurant and professor at the Portucalense University and the School of Hospitality and Tourism of Porto. With an entrepreneurial spirit and a multidisciplinary life, he divides his time between Ferrugem, a restoration project since 2006, teaching in higher education and activities linked to the land, such as the organic garden, local accommodation in a rural environment and the #ircomsedeaopote project , elected “Tourist Experience of 2022”, at the Minho Innovation and Tourism Awards. In 2016 he was distinguished with the Medal of Municipal Economic Merit by the Chamber of Famalicão and in 2023 he received the Medal of Cultural Merit in his hometown - Vila de Ribeirão. In 2019, he completed the Master's degree in Tourism and Hospitality at Universidade Portucalense, an area in which he teaches several subjects. Along with gastronomy, he has a special interest in the area of wine, teaching Enogastronomy and having been awarded several times in food and wine pairing competitions, as well as being a judge in competitions in the same field. In 2012 he was elected Chef of the Year by Wine Magazine and, in 2017, Ferrugem was elected Restaurant of the Year by Vinho Grandes Escolhas Magazine. Still in this area, with Ferrugem he won the gold diploma in the last editions of the Gastronomy with Port Wine Competition, as well as four gold diplomas in five participations in the Vinhos Verdes and Gastronomy Competition. His CV also includes multiple participations in activities such as the “National Congress of Cooks”, “Peixe em Lisboa”, “Wine in Azores”, “Vinho Verde Fest”, “Vinho Verde Wine Fest Brasil”, “Essência do Gourmet”, “Essência do Vinho”, “Fórum Gastronomico da Coruña”, multiple lectures and several conferences such as the well-known TEDx. He is a member of the Famalicão Made IN Mentor Network and a judge for the Ecotrophelia Portugal Award, a competition promoted by PortugalFoods, which is part of the international competition and whose aim is to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in the European agri-food sector. A cook by vocation, he likes to be seen as an ambassador of Portuguese gastronomy. To this end, paying attention to what is being done in Portugal and around the world, he seeks broad-based training, based both on popular empiricism and on knowledge of haute cuisine and academia. The cuisine he recommends has as its main ingredients products with a Portuguese identity and preferably originating from sustainable agriculture (biological or biodynamic) - a cuisine clearly with popular roots, with great technical rigor and seasoned with creativity and innovation.

Several chefs cooking outdoors, with a fire on the ground and iron cauldrons. The proposal is based on an informal, interactive and sharing gastronomic exercise, in which chefs cook together, showing their gastronomic versatility, with comfort dishes that are part of the rural imagination, resulting in delicacies with a popular appearance and an absolutely sophisticated flavor. . The preparation work begins in the early afternoon, next to the entrance to the São Miguel Island Exhibition Park, in Ribeira Grande, and the tasting is scheduled between 7pm and midnight. Small doses will be served, at €6 each, and, as wine cannot be missed, there will be several bars on site with wine and other drinks. For each dose served, €1 goes towards a humanitarian association in S. Miguel.

As has happened in recent years, Gorgeous Azores, Lda., organizer of Wine in Azores and Associação Cegos por Provas, are pleased to announce the “Best Wine In Azores”, a competition that will reward the best wines present at the event. This is a way to further publicize the brands involved, attract more people to taste the award-winning wines and consequently increase the notoriety of the respective producers. On the first day of the fair, prizes and diplomas will be awarded to the winners. There will be 5 categories in the competition: “Best Sparkling Wine” “Best White” “Best Rosé” “Best Red” “Best Fortified/Naturally Sweet” The wines will be tasted in a blind tasting. The tests will take place on Saturday, October 14th from 9 am, under the auspices of “Cegos por Provas”, a group that has been organizing this type of competition since 2013, all over the country. The jury, made up of sommeliers, winemakers, producers and guest tasters, will be divided into 3 tasting tables (each table tasting ⅓ of the wines in the competition), with a table president and at least one wine repeated at each table (to assess the fairness and calibration of testers). The 5 best whites and reds and the 3 best sparkling wines, rosé wines and fortified wines will be subject to a final and tasted by all members of the jury.