San Francisco, United States, Sept. 29, 2025 (Lusa) - The Association of Port Wine Companies (AEPV) is promoting the Port Wine Fest in San Francisco on 30 September, with the aim of "bringing wine together as an ambassador of Portuguese culture", executive director Isabel Marrana told Lusa.
With the ambition of bringing between 1,000 and 1,500 people to The Cube, a historic building in the Californian city, the festival will feature wines from 44 Portuguese producers, gastronomic offerings prepared by Portuguese-American chef Telmo Faria and a performance by fado singer Helder Carvalheira, both based in San Francisco.
"We chose the United States as a potential market, with a very interesting reputation for Portuguese wines and very significant potential for international growth," explained Isabel Marrana.
"We're bringing together a lot of people, a lot of flavours, a lot of wine varieties, a lot of grape varieties," she said. "We have a lot to offer the trade and American consumers."
The primary purpose of the Port Wine Fest is to increase wine sales in the North American market and promote Portugal as a tourist destination, with a focus on wine tourism.
The executive director emphasised that there will be specific hours and tastings for consumers and purchasing managers at the festival. "What we want is for restaurants to have Portuguese wines on their menus, for American and San Francisco wine shops to have Portuguese wines and for consumers to want to consume them, to know what they're ordering, to identify the experience of coming to Portugal."
The Port Wine Fest is taking place at a time when the imposition of tariffs on imports by the current Trump administration has affected international trade. However, Isabel Marrana said that the AEVP remains firmly convinced that this is a long-term market.
"The uncertainty of the tariffs only creates a greater challenge and has not diminished the opportunity," she emphasised. "The United States continues to be an extremely important market for Portuguese wines, particularly Douro and Port wines," she emphasised.
The receptivity has increased as Portugal has become more visible. "A few years ago we still had to use maps to explain where Portugal was, and today we don't," said Isabel Marrana. "We have the support of both the trade and, above all, the consumer, which is clearly appealing for us to make this effort of energy, investment and passion, which is to take Portuguese wines to the three corners of the world."
The trip to San Francisco is the first of three on this mission, followed by Chicago on 2nd October and New York on 6th October. This set of initiatives is funded by the PRR - Recovery and Resilience Plan, with funds allocated until June 2026.
"By combining gastronomy, wines, traditional Portuguese music, and tourism, we really have a huge offer, especially in terms of price/quality. It's absolutely unbeatable."
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Lusa
