Ana Reis: Passionately Portuguese (Part 2)

With someone as passionate about wine as if they breathe it, it’s no wonder you can sense their desire to learn more. Even though it might be difficult, one would go to great lengths to become more knowledgeable and skilled about wine and winemaking. Ana Reis personifies that. The great love she has for her craft, along with her energetic and fun nature, will ensure success for her. 

Let’s join Ana as she teaches and entertains us with her funny Portuguese wine names and fun stories about wine and the people involved. Let us marvel at her passion and dedication to her work.

What you will learn from this episode:

• Find out about Portuguese wines with funny names, and their local grape varieties.
• Learn about what it takes to take a WSET course, the levels involved, and what those mean as you go from one level to the next.
• Discover Portuguese food and wine pairings that will leave you satiated, satisfied and enjoy a great experience.

Ana Reis has been in the hospitality business practically all her life, worked only in Porto, Portugal – but in quite a few hotels. Portugal has an amazing wine culture and history and she’s trying to learn it… sip by sip. She’s looking forward to telling her story!

She was born and raised in Porto, Portugal. She’s 30 years old and has been in the hospitality business almost since birth, believe it not!
 
Her mother had a small catering and events company and from a very young age she started helping her and developing her love for this difficult but rewarding career. 
 
She studied hospitality management and worked in a lot of well-known hotels in Porto like Sheraton, Intercontinental and Yeatman. 
 
Ana started by waiting tables, switched to bartending and after some years, discovered her love for wine and took the WSET level 2 and now she’s on her way to get the WSET level 3. 
 
Portugal has some of the oldest and most amazing wine regions in the world, so it’s not hard not to be fascinated by this subject… just like Ana is. 

Connect with Ana Reis: 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ana-reis-59188312b/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anastreis/

Topics Covered:

02:31 – What does WSET stand for [and the levels associated with it]?
07:25 – Funny Portuguese wine names
11:09 – How expensive is it to name a grape variety?
12:09 – How ‘random grapes’ [Kaput] are made into wine
13:12 – What made her pursue WSET level 3
13:55 – Ana’s important reminder 
14:26 – How the hospitality business afforded her to travel the world without going out of her city
17:03 – A culture, life, and hard work that is inside a bottle of wine
18:33 – Loving food pairings [a to-die-for wine that goes best with rare steak]
21:29 – Talking about the ‘green wine’ that people often refer to
23:19 – The beauty of the Portuguese language

Quotes from Ana Reis:

“WSET stands for Wine and Spirit Education Trust.”

“So it’s just the first crush of the grapes, the red skin grapes. We get a little bit of color, and that’s the rose.”

“It’s addicting because you learn about the history and there’s so much of the world history around wine.”

“You start thinking about it, you start studying and you just want to go, want to get more and more information.”

“Since Portuguese, such an old wine country, the old people used to name grapes whatever it came to their mind.”

“There’s a red grape called, which means in English, “strangle a dog.” 

“Malvasia Corada is the name of a grape and she’s embarrassed for some reason.”

“I need to learn more about wine because you just realize how much there is to know.”

“I’ve traveled the world without getting out of my city because I meet people from all over the place.”

“Something like someone’s whole life is inside that bottle, like a little piece of their whole life is there and a lot of hours.”

“Portuguese cuisine is very rich, very flavorful.”