Leaving Portugal in the 1960s at the age of 24 to visit the largest bank in the world must have been an adventure.
It was an interesting journey on many levels. I could see what was being done in banking, I could see the entrepreneurial capacity of the Azores, I was amazed that it was possible to eat 24/7 thanks to the Asian community in the city and yes, you could understand what the culture of vines and wine in California is all about.
Growing up in Porto, did you not have any contact with the world of wine?
Not really.
And what surprised you the most?
I remember a strange thing. At some point I found a bottle in a shop that said “port wine”. I looked at it and didn’t really understand which Portuguese company the wine was from. I asked a few questions and the guy there told me, “This wine is made here, but it seems there is a country in Europe that also makes something similar.” I bought a bottle and when I got to Portugal, assembled I asked some friends associated with wine, the Guedes and the van Zellers, and without showing the bottle, asked them to tell where the wine came from: some said it was from Vale Mendiz, others that it was from the river Torto was, and still others that it was here or there from the shore. When they had finished speaking, I finished: Well, my dears, you are all missing each other by 9,000 kilometers.