Winery Tour & 5 Wines Tasting with Tapas at Casa Relvas in Alentejo

The pros: the woman leading the tasting was friendly and knowledgeable about the wine and winery. The winery was beautiful and in a nice setting.
The cons: a very large group ( 15-20 people) joined our group of 4. They were 20 minutes late so we had to wait for them. A few minutes late is ok, beyond that the tour/ tasting should have started without them. Once we arrived at the tasting room, they brought in 5 plates with cheese, meats and olives to share among the group. Toothpicks were provided so no one needed to touch the food directly. The large group ignored the toothpicks and grabbed everything with their hands. With the flu and covid still active, not a smart thing to do. My biggest objection was how the tasting was handled. It was more like a social hour at a bar. The woman running the tour walked around with the wine and poured the tastings to individual groups that were talking . Unfortunately when the group asked a question, no one else could hear the question so we couldn’t benefit from the conversation that they were having. After 3-5 minutes she would move on to the next group. Same thing happened, questions were asked which she answered to that group. None of the other participants in the tasting could hear the questions or answers. Finally after waiting for about 10 minutes she would talk to our group, pour the wine and spend a few minutes with us. This routine would start all over with the next wine. I don’t think that we, as a group of 4 received more than 10 minutes of her time or knowledge about Portugal wine. Considering the cost of the tour, I expected more interaction and information. At the end of the tour, nothing was mentioned about buying any wine before we left so we left without any purchases. Pretty disappointed in the tour. I could have learned as much or more at a wine store for a whole lot less money.
Start the tour on time. If people are late, too,bad. During the tasting, have everyone sit at tables with smaller servings of food, one plate for two people. No sharing with strangers in this time of Covid and the flu. One of the participants in my tasting would lick his fingers after each piece of cheese and then use his hands to grab an olive. Disgusting.. don’t treat it like a social hour, wedding or party. We came to learn about the wine. She should talk to the group and educate all of us.