Fernão Pires is
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A) a wine region in Portugal
B) a varietal from Portugal
C) a winemaker from Portugal
D) a song by Abba
ANSWER:
B) a varietal from Portugal
WHAT IS FERNÃO PIRES?
Fernão Pires is a varietal distinctive to Portugal that’s medium-bodied and typically blended in Portuguese dry white wines and sherry. Pires was an actual person from Portugal, aka Fernão Pires de Andrade. He was part of the Portuguese government and worked on opening up trade with China in 1517. What his exact relation to wine is unknown. Interestingly, the same grape is also called Maria Gomes. It’s unclear what the two names have to do with each other, if anything. One writer speculated that perhaps, “We are dealing with some crazy historical cross-dressing viticulturist.”
In the Everyday Libations grouping, we feature a bottle of Fernão Pires. This wine is mostly Pires but with 10% barrel fermented Arinto. If you have a crowd that likes Chard, serve them this instead. If you have a crowd that likes Sauvignon Blanc… you could serve them this also. It’s great for appetizers and goes well with turkey. It’s simply heaven with goat cheese!!