Authors: Simon J Woolf & Ryan Opaz

I’ve yet to go to Portugal but it has been in and out of my consciousness for years. When I was first starting in wine, and in the previous iteration of this blog, I did a series of of “Travel by Glass” and the first country I tackled was Portugal. Living in Australia, the selection of wines available is not vast however, there is a local Portuguese community and a local shop that caters to them that supplied me with a good selection of whites and reds. I had a blast trying around 20 different wines and always had Portugal as a “must visit” destination in mind. It is, even more so now having read through this amazing book in one weekend.

You may be familiar with Simon J Woolf’s work, Amber Revolution, which was a hard to put down number that made me thirsty for wine and travel. In Foot Trodden, Simon pairs up with Ryan Opaz to deliver a riveting, unputdownable edition on the country that the world forgot for a while, Portugal. It is not only well written, it is gorgeous to behold from the hand drawn map to the wonderful photography through-out that really captures the spirit. The book is an evolving story from the introduction to Portugal and brief historical overview to the different regions through the stories of various winemakers and figures who are bucking the trend from the forgettable to the unforgettable wines. My only upset is I can’t taste alongside, as the wines call to me.

Would I recommend you grab a copy? Yes, wholeheartedly. For those who love wine or history or travel or stories about amazing people surviving through adversity, this is definitely a must read. For those with a penchant for beautiful photography and imagery, ditto. My only warning, get comfortable as this one is likely to be a ‘read in one sitting’.

For official release details and to purchase head here including background on the authors and the full list of winemakers.