The International Wine Tourism Conference has always been one of those places for me.
Back in 2011, at the Palácio do Freixo, I experienced my first true international step into the world of wine tourism. I didn’t have a clear roadmap yet, only curiosity, ambition, and a willingness to be part of something bigger. In that year me and Teresa Gomes made a partnership to share the investment of the participation.
Already in that time i began to see Portugal not just as a destination, but as a story worth sharing with the world. Another curiosity is that the co-host in that time was Susanna Tocca, tat is today one of my strongest business partners in Portugal. Together, we co-create and develop projects that continue to shape how Portugal is presented as a wine destination, including the Wine Destination Portugal, as well as curated wine experiences delivered through our joint initiatives.
And this journey is still evolving, with a new aggregator project on the horizon. A natural extension of years of shared vision, trust, and collaboration. What started as a moment became a path.
Back at 2011, i remember observing more than speaking.
Trying to understand the dynamics, the rhythm, the unspoken language of the room. And I remember, above all, that first networking dinner the moment when everything feels overwhelming, until it doesn’t.
Because networking, when it is genuine, is never about business cards.
It is about recognising intention. It is about listening. It is about understanding where we fit into someone else’s journey. And maybe that’s why I kept coming back.
Year after year. Over time, something else became clear. Some of the most meaningful partnerships don’t begin as strategy they begin as presence. This year, in Cracóvia, something became even clearer: the real value of this journey lies in time.
In relationships that don’t end when the event does. In people we reconnect with as if no time had passed. In conversations that, years later, turn into visits, collaborations, friendships.
A couple I met in 2017 will visit me in Portugal this May. And that, more than anything, defines what wine tourism truly is. But there is also an invisible layer, just as important.
The conversations with familiar faces, like Csilla, Mark, Ivo and Judith. The new voices we follow even before we meet them, like Jamie Knee. The ideas that emerge without agenda. The destinations we discover through the people who live them. IWINETC is, in many ways, a living map shaped by people. Somewhere along the way, I realised I had taken on a role. To carry Portugal with me. To represent the Alentejo. To share stories.
To bring places like Herdade do Rocim into conversations that start far from home. To offer not just wine, but a way of receiving, hosting, and connecting. And now, I return home. With new contacts, of course.
With new opportunities, certainly.
But above all, with the feeling that this path — built on encounters — is what gives meaning to everything else. Travel slowly.
And always toast with intention. Until next conversation around a glass of Rocim.
