ViniPortugal promotes the Wines of Portugal Wine & Food Festival next October 31, at Det Norske Teatret in Oslo. The event aims to demonstrate the high quality and versatile character of Portuguese wines through a harmonization with the Nordic food. Wines of Portugal Wine & Food Festival includes a wine tasting in an innovative format and is part of the ViniPortugal promotional plan for northern Europe. The plan predicts the presentation of the Portuguese wines at several events, education and communication programs in Sweden and Norway, including the organization of two annual events in Stockholm and Oslo. Visitors will have the opportunity to sample three areas of local cuisine - Hunting, Seafood & Fish and Desserts - and discover different pairing proposals with Portuguese wines and Norwegian dishes. Each dining area will have a sommelier / chef that will explain each of the combinations and mobilize the visitors to taste the wines of each producer. The visitors are invited to learn more about the wines, taste different proposals of harmonization and vote for their favorite combination. The pair of sommelier / chef who has more votes wins a trip to Portugal. Exports of domestic wine to Norway grew by 12.9% in the first half of 2016. This market continues to be the target of the Wines of Portugal promotion, however is a challenge because of the monopolies in retail, controlled and managed by the state, with major constraints to the promotion and sale of alcoholic beverages, including wine.