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Ossining Wine Shop Showcases Wines From Portugal

OSSINING, N.Y. – Portugal is one of the nations in the world that produces the most grapes, and the Portuguese owner of a new wine shop on Main Street wants to share his country's wines with Americans.

"People in the U.S. are not very aware of Portuguese wine," said Rute Goncalves, the manager of Tasty Port Wine. "The owner, Antonio Da Silva, wanted to show how wonderful Portuguese wines are."

Aside from owning a wine boutique, Da Sliva is also a carpenter who owns Silva Cabinetry in Buchanan. He created all of Tasty Port Wine's wine display shelves and furniture himself using fallen trees collected after Hurricane Irene. The beautifully stained furniture creates an elegant, rustic look to the shop which has a somewhat European ambience.

"It's a very well-organized store. There aren't boxes stacked on top of one another," Goncalves said. "People like it because it's a nice environment with affordable prices."

Tasty Port Wine specializes in wine from Portugal, but it also carries wines from France, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, South Africa, Germany, Chile, Argentina, Romania, Spain and the U.S.

Specialty Portuguese wines include port wines, a sweet dessert wine, and "vinho verde" wines which are "young wines" made from grapes that are not allowed to mature and get sweet.

"Only Portugal produces these grapes, and the vinho verde is always a dry wine, never sweet," Goncalves said.

The wine store which opened about six weeks ago has regular wine tastings with wine that is dispensed from a wine tasting machine. The four wines highlighted in the tasting machine this week were Chianti, a red Italian wine with a dry, rounded flavor; Boas Vinhas, a Portuguese light, red wine with a rich, concentrated flavor; Fuzelo, a white Portuguese "vinho verde" with lemon-lime flavors; and Fado, a juicy, Portuguese white wine with ripe apple, peach and pear flavors.

Wines range in price from $6.99 to $112, with most wines in the $7.99 to $17.99 range.

The $112 bottle is a Pera Manca from the Alentejo region in southern Portugal. Goncalves said she has never tasted it.

Tasty Port Wine is also soon to offer wine accessories including cork screws, tool accessory gift sets, non-woven six bottle totes and bottle boxes.

"Everything we're going to sell is on the antique side," Goncalves said. "They make wonderful gifts."

Tasty Port Wine at 127 Main St. is open Monday through Friday from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

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