Despite the argument still raging over Lagoa council’s unilateral decision to call its municipal area the Capital of Wines, to the intense irritation of other wine producing council areas, this year’s Lagoa Wine Show is to go ahead.
Upto 70 exhibitors have booked, including about over twenty from the Algarve, and every wine producer in the Lagoa area will be present at the show running from April 28 to 30 at the Arade Congress Center, in Parchal.
The council says there will be exhibitors from the Dão, Alentejo and Tagus regions plus ten non-wine exhibitors selling food and other goods, numbers down on last year but still worth attending. In the inaugural year of 2015, there were 125 wine producers from all over the country - 22 of which were from the Algarve. Last year there were around 30, according to Sul Informaçao so this years booking level of 70 is in between.
As for the 'Lagoa, City of Wine' sobriquet, now backed up by a registered trademark, Lagoa council does not see what all the fuss is about, stating that the title is just a ‘marketing strategy.’
The Algarve wine commission feels deeply irritated, to the point that it has scrapped several partnerships with Lagoa council and has decamped to Albufeira for its next wine competition.
The wine commission’s president Carlos Gracias commented to the Portugal Resident, “We cannot accept this self-proclamation. There are other wine-making areas in the Algarve that need to be protected and valued.”
In earlier conversations, the commission had suggested that the Capital of Wines title should move around the council areas, linked to promotional activity, but added that Lagoa’s mayor had dismissed the idea "out of hand."
But the Lagoa wine show will go on, despite last year’s complaints that the venue was not ideal and the show poorly attended.
This year’s three day event at the Centro de Congressos do Arade will have wine tastings and lectures with an evening concert on each of the evenings days but can expect zero support from other local council chiefs and the Algarve’s wine commission, while the producers present will welcome all comers.
However, there is support from Algarve Wine Route, the Association of Portuguese Wine Municipalities and the Algarve Tourism Board who encourage locals and visitors to attend.
As for the concerts, the public can watch Luís Represas on Friday night, Amor Electro on Saturday night and the American jazz pianist and singer Dena Derose with the Algarve Jazz Orchestra on Sunday. Tickets ot the concerts are €10 but entry to the Wine Show is free, although last year there was a €5 charge for a tasting glass.
