ViniPortugal, the association responsible for the international promotion of the Wines of Portugal, will promote from 9 to 12 October a sequence of actions to create knowledge and raise awareness about the Portuguese wines close to the professionals and influencers of the wine sector in Chicago and New York. The objective is clear: to strengthen the presence of Portuguese still wines in its biggest export destination. The first stop is "Find Importer Event Chicago" on 9 October. Fifteen Portuguese producers that pretend to reinforce the presence in the US market will have the opportunity to establish bilateral meetings with 15 importers from different US states in sessions that will take place throughout the day. The wines under analysis were selected accordingly with a classification previously made by the wine tasting panel of the renowned magazine Wine & Spirits. On 10 October the Wines of Portugal will continue in Chicago to promote the event "Perspectives on Portugal - Chicago Trial". A total of 31 Portuguese producers, from different wine regions, will be given the opportunity to sample their wines with 100 trade professionals, including distributors, retailers and top sommeliers. The initiative program also includes two master classes presented by MS Evan Goldstein and Wines of Portugal Brand Ambassador, Eugénio Jardim, under the themes "A to Z: Portugal's eno-Alphabet Master Class" and "Portugal's Rock Stars: A crème de La Crème Master Class ". The participants will also be able to taste a selection of wines winners of the 2017 Wines of Portugal Challenge. On October 12, the attention is drawn to the public in New York, with two different actions. The first, entitled "Perspectives on Portugal – NYC Wine Tasting", follows the format of the event previously hold in Chicago, this time taking 100 trade professionals to taste wines from 40 Portuguese producers, from different regions of the country. ViniPortugal's promotional activities in New York end in the best possible way, with a special dinner. The "WineMaker Dinner" will be held in the renowned Aldea restaurant for an audience of 30 final consumers, who will have the opportunity to taste six Portuguese wines pairing Portuguese-influenced dishes. The dinner be presented by Evan Goldstein and Eugénio Jardim and the wine producers or wine tasters will have the opportunity to participate in the most interest part of the session: you will be able to present your wines by voice directly to the participants during the dinner. In 2016, the United States market became the largest export destination for still wines, with PDO (Protected Denomination of Origin) and PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) wines registering a very significant increase, which led this country to surpass Angola in the ranking leader. Last year, global sales of Portuguese wine to the North American market grew more than 8% to around 74.8 million euros.