Portuguese wines - how they turned out

The visit to the Algarve turned out great - the weather was lovely, and we all really enjoyed it.
Best place to buy wines in the supermarket turned out to be Appolonia, in the town of Almancil, with a great range of different wines to chose from. As supermarkets go, it is at the higher end of the spectrum for both food and wine, so it probably isnt the cheapest option, although I checked equivalent prices in other places and they compared quite well. As I was only there for a few days, I didnt get the chance to explore the breadth of wines available, but most of what I did try were of pretty good quality.

Definite recommendations include:

White - inexpensive - Giro Sol (Vinho Verde DOC) from Projecto de Dirk Niepoort, made from the Loureiro grape - this was perfect summer wine, very fresh grassy & citrusy flavours
White - mid-price - Alvarinho grape (Sub-region of Mancao - Branco) - I tried a couple of these, and they were a bit variable, but overall well worth a go - same grape as Albarino, which is one of my favourits
White - mid to expensive - Chardonnay - had a couple of these in restaurants and they compare very well with the french equivalent, not too oaked

On the red front (as I was with mostly red wine drinkers, I tried a few more of these!), although didnt get the chance to delve into the cheap end of things - maybe next time!

Red - mid-price Casa de Saima Bairrada 2001 - 95% Baga grape, which turned out to be very smooth tasting, like a rich pinot noir

Red - mid-price - Esparao Allentejo DOC Reserva 2000 - mix of Trincadeira, Aragones and Cabarnet Sauvignon, tasted of ripe fruit and softened down tannins

Red - mid to expensive - Quinto do Carmo Vinho Regional Alentejano 2002 with Aragones, Alicante Bouchet, Trincadero and Castelao - this was a really lovely wine, and more than one bottle of this one was consumed. Local grape varieties made this a really interesting wine.

Red - expensive - Quinta da Bacalhoa 2005 Vinho Regional Terras do Sad0, which was a Cabernet Merlot mix. Great wine, could compare well with its Bordeaux equivalent.

All of these were really good wines to drink, and many of them also feature on restaurant wine lists.