Beginning his profession within the British Cavalry Regiment the first The Queen’s Dragoon Guards, Bridge moved to Portugal in 1994 and is now CEO of The Fladgate Partnership, which produces Taylor, Fonseca, Fonseca-Guimaraens, Krohn and Croft Ports. Bridge has been a driving pressure behind wine tourism in Porto, opening The Yeatman Lodge in 2010 and creating the town’s new Cultural Quarter together with the World of Wine in 2020.
‘We can assist to deseasonalise Port; attempt to encourage shoppers to have Port at different instances of the yr, Port is not only for Christmas. Folks’s notion is properly I’ll have a small glass of Port after Christmas lunch, as a result of it’s conventional, to truly then giving individuals the arrogance to get pleasure from Port and check out it at totally different instances of the yr.’
‘Our White Port & Tonic and Pink Port & Tonic in a can are all about comfort. It’s additionally about totally different consumption moments. And it’s in all probability a couple of totally different shopper. We’re speaking about extra of a millennial than a conventional shopper. And that’s nice. There’s a Port for everyone.’
‘I’m fortunate as a result of I get fairly a lot of Ports to attempt. However at Christmas I believe it’s a particular second since you’ve bought household round. So I wish to open some good outdated classic Ports, as a result of these are typically the particular bottles you’re preserving for particular events and I believe Christmas with the household is a special day.’
‘What vintages are consuming properly? The 70s are nonetheless great – the 77s – and the 85s are nice. Lately I’ve had a number of the 92s and 94s and actually loved these.’
‘At 1828 steakhouse we serve younger classic Ports with the steak – and I discover {that a} tremendously good mixture. The newest younger classic is filled with fruit and lusciousness and really the sweetness of that goes so properly with the meat.’
‘On Christmas Eve we are likely to do bacalhau which is Portuguese salted cod, accomplished a method or one other. However my favorite might be bacalhau com natas, which is bacalhau with potato and cream, baked within the oven.’
‘I’ve had Christmases in all kinds of locations: Antarctica was fairly fascinating. Once we arrived we had a white-out, which meant doing nothing for a couple of week, since you couldn’t see which method was up. I bear in mind there was a serious scarcity of alcohol, as a result of all the things in Antarctica needs to be flown in. So if you happen to didn’t deliver it with you: robust. We had been with some South Africans who drank most of what they introduced with them pretty swiftly – and costs of a bottle of whisky had been $10,000.’
‘I’ve additionally accomplished Christmas in St Lucia – I bear in mind dressing up as Father Christmas on the seaside.’
‘I’m a robust believer that there’s a wine for each event. And there are specific locations on the planet the place individuals make improbable wines. I really like Champagne, however I’m notably keen on Rieslings from Alsace.’
‘I believe Riesling is an excellent grape. The latest one which I attempted was from Portugal which tasted unimaginable. It had a really petroleum nostril, similar to an Alsacian, so I used to be fairly stunned by that. It was from North Alentejo.’
‘I gave up espresso about 24 years in the past. However the exception is Italy. I’ll have a cappuccino, if I’m on an Italian piazza within the morning, in Florence or someplace, sitting with a pleasant cappuccino, considering “Sure, I’m in Italy, residing la dolce vita: me and my espresso”.’
‘I’m very privileged as a result of it’s troublesome to tire of the Douro. However I additionally suppose I’m fairly stressed. I wish to go and discover different locations. I really like mountains as a result of I climb mountains, I really feel solitude in mountains and I really feel actually in awe of nature – which I suppose is what you get with the Douro as properly. You go searching you and may solely be in awe of nature.’
‘This summer season we had been in Svalbard, polar bears from a ship, properly above the Arctic Circle. We noticed heaps – it was nice. I additionally went swimming, which was a bit chilly…’
‘I’m a little bit of a historical past buff. I really like historical past. I learn quite a lot of historical past.’
‘I’ve had a really fascinating profession as a result of I did six years within the British Military. Then I went into banking, which I beloved, for six years. Then my father-in-law requested me to return over right here and tackle the problem of this firm. So I took over operating the enterprise in 98 and I formally took on the function on 1 January 2000.’
‘The newest reorganisation is to maneuver the corporate out of the historic centre of Porto over the course of many years – that venture began about 2010 – and shifting it out in order that we will convert that metropolis centre to content material that enriches the whole vacationer provide of the town, and northern Portugal and Portugal itself.’
‘The Yeatman has helped to rework the town of Porto, has helped create a whole leisure vacation spot which is booming, which has inspired numerous different individuals to take a position and because of this in all probability reworked numerous lives and to really feel that I form of had a component in that, initially, that looks like a life properly spent.’
‘Porto has this unimaginable historical past. It’s bought superb structure. It’s bought great individuals, and it’s bought beautiful traditions of meals. It’s clearly bought a wine custom – it’s one of many few locations on the planet that has a wine named after it. And but, it by no means actually had a lodge to do it justice. And that was what The Yeatman was about.’
‘In hospitality, you must anticipate your buyer’s wants and good service is often when you could have anticipated the client’s wants earlier than the client knew what they wanted.’
‘We would like individuals to go away from The Yeatman considering that they’ve had a very nice expertise. And if you happen to’ve had a pleasant expertise, you’ll have a optimistic view of Porto. After which if we’ve given you a pleasant Port tasting, you could have a optimistic view of Port, which is our core product. The benefit of all of that’s we’ve bought somewhat little bit of your soul, somewhat little bit of your consideration. You’re saying: “Oh Port, sure, I bear in mind once I went to Porto and that was a really particular second.” That, to me, is what wine tourism is about. If you happen to can seize somewhat piece of individuals’s soul, so every time they see the product they’re reminded of one thing optimistic, then that’s a lot extra highly effective than any advertising and marketing you possibly can ever do.’
