A BC wine girl’s guide to drinking wine in Portugal. Okay maybe not all of Portugal, and maybe it’s not all about wine, but here are my experiences drinking and eating my way through parts of Portugal.
Click here to read about my experience in Croatia!
Prior to travelling Europe, I was aware that wine played a role in European culture but I had no idea just how significant and readily available wine is. There was a café, a bakery, and a wine bar around every single corner. My kind of place! Keep reading to find out the wines and the spots that were the most memorable during my travels throughout Portugal.
PORTUGAL
The Wines
I found that Croatian wine lists were super easy to navigate with a clear varietal, winery and location. I wasn’t in Spain long enough to get confused about the wines but as soon as I hit Portugal I totally stopped understanding what I was drinking.
I felt so lost that I ended up asking for a recommendation everywhere I went and thankfully I wasn’t disappointed. However, that also meant that now I really didn’t know what I was drinking most times.
Upon arriving in Portugal, not only did the wine lists get more confusing but the pours got exponentially bigger. Sometimes the wine glass was almost filled to the top! Bonus: wine pours got bigger and the prices took a steep decline. Most wines that I drank were between €3 to €5 for a hefty glass!
Vinho Verde: Years prior to visiting Portugal I heard all about Vinho Verde and how great it is for patio drinking on a hot summer day. From Northern Portugal, Vinho Verde is known for being super cheap, full of acidity, typically dry (not sweet) and a little bit carbonated. You can expect tasting notes like gooseberry, lime, lemon or grapefruit. All point to a wine that I would like.
Somehow I only had one glass of Vinho Verde during my week in Portugal and to be perfectly honest, I didn’t love it. The glass that I had was a little effervescent which was fun but overall the wine was way too sweet for my liking without enough fruit flavours to make the sweetness worth it and not enough acidity to balance it out. Unfortunately this was my only taste of Vinho Verde but I am going to keep searching for one that I like at home because it sounds right up my alley.
Ginjinha: This isn’t about wine but it’s worth your time I promise. Ginjinha is a Portuguese cherry liqueur that has a hint of spices making it takes reminiscent of a fruity mulled wine. In Lisbon you can pretty much find Ginjinha down any alley you wander. Little old ladies open their doors or window shutters, throw up a hand drawn sign and sell shots of the cherry liquor to people passing by. €1 for a shot, €1.50 for a shot in a chocolate cup. In Porto you won’t typically find Ginjinha on the streets but you can get it in cafés and wine bars. So order your afternoon espresso and take a shot of Ginjinha while you wait! It’s the best way to keep the buzz going as you walk the steep and winding city streets.
Port: In Porto, drinking Port (pictured above) is a way of life. And they aren’t messing around with the pour size on this either! Port is a slightly sweet and high in alcohol aperitif that is made with wine. Here in Canada we typically see Port enjoyed after a meal. But in Porto, you drink it anytime and all the time. Have it with brunch, in the afternoon, with dinner or after. It doesn’t matter, as long as you have some!
I tried all sorts of Port throughout our 4 days in Porto including a few whites and rosés which we don’t usually see at home. But my favourite style is LBV or late bottled vintage. Describing late bottled vintage is a whole other story so you’ll have to look that up on your own!
PORTUGAL
The Spots
A Muralha Tapas E Vinhos – Lisbon
I will set the scene. It was raining extraordinarily hard. I walked less than 5 minutes to a tiny traditional Portuguese restaurant and I was already absolutely soaked. To break up the extremely wet 5 minute back home I popped into an adorable little wine bar that I was eyeing up. Dimly lit, stone walls, archways and accordion music, it was exactly what I was hoping a little Portuguese wine bar would be like.
I told our server that he could bring me any red wine and he came back with a wine from the Lisboa region of Portugal. I have no idea what the actual varietal is but it was very cherry forward with blueberry, mocha and some dried strawberry. It was good, not great but still quite good. It opened up a lot as I sipped it and it went perfectly with a chocolate cup that a shot of Ginjinha is served in. I thought that I was paying €8.80 for the glass but turns out that was the bottle price and my pour was €2.95! I should have gotten a second glass.
To be honest the service at Park Bar was horrible but by this point in the trip bad service didn’t phase me so I stuck it out for a happy hour consisting €30 pitchers of sangria. It seemed kind of steep at first but it gave about nine full glasses of really good sangria so it felt like a deal. The sun was setting over panoramic views of Lisbon and the river, the crowd kept growing and the music was on point—it was such a fun atmosphere so despite the shoddy service, I am thoroughly happy to have stopped here. Make sure to get the fresh potato chips because they are a delight.
On the stumble back to our airbnb from the rooftop bar, I came across this precious little wine bar Beer & Wine Up where they were playing more awesome music so obviously I had to stop. Thankfully I did because this is where I had what was possibly my favourite red wine of the trip: Fraga da Galhofa
The wine was listed as a red wine from the Duoro Valley, the wine region just north of Porto, Portugal. This was another really reasonable red. I am talking €5 a bottle. There is no shame in liking a cheap drink! I ended up having two glasses because the wine and the atmosphere was totally hitting the spot. On the nose there was red cherry, dark fruit, and leather. On the palate I got a lot of black cherry and blueberry. It was juicy but had some structure with medium tannins and overall it was super balanced.
A note for next time: they also had a restaurant tucked away in the back that was super busy and smelled amazing!
If you take a walk along the iconic bridge crossing the river in Porto you will end up in a little place called Gaia. Littered along the edge of the river are Port Houses where you can stop and do a Port tasting or even take a tour of their cellars. There is one place that stands out amongst the rest: Espaço Porto Cruz, a rooftop bar serving their own brand of Port on its own or in cocktails, complimented by an epic view of the sun setting along the river made better by DJs setting the mood with their music. It doesn’t necessarily stand out for their Port per-say, but it has a lively atmosphere and I could stare at the view of the cityscape along the river all damn day.
I sat at a tiny table along the street in the afternoon sun sweating through my white pants but thoroughly enjoying the absolutely massive wine list and the kind service that The Wine Box offered. I actually understood this wine list as it was laid out in a huge binder and split up by styles of wine that I recognized like aromatic whites, crisp whites, aged whites, etc. I loved it so much that I came back again for an LBV Port nightcap on my last evening in Portugal.
If you want to splurge a little (but not really that much) on an incredible meal, head to Cantinho Do Avillez. This was my favourite meal of the trip and maybe of the entire year! They are a Michelin guide restaurant that is usually packed but we lucked out with a walk-in spot at the bar which gave it a casual feel even though we still received exceptional service. Don’t sleep on the raw marinated scallop with avocado crema or the Primo Basìlico cocktail. What could have been a simple gin and basil drink is morphed into a frothy martini full of citrus and basil perfection. I could have had twelve.
If you haven’t gotten the hint already, I think that Europe is exquisite. Whether you are there for the history, the sights, the food, the drinks or all of the above, I am sure that you will find exactly what you are looking for and more. I went in a little bit blind as I have never travelled to Europe and I did not do a tonne of research but I was blown away with how prevalent wine is. Wine is obviously a huge passion of mine so seeing little nooks and crannies filled with teeny tiny wine bars bursting with character made my heart absolutely sing.
I might not know the wine varietals or the wineries I was drinking from, but the experience of wandering and sipping in the cutest city streets or on patios overlooking rivers and seas will stick with me for a very long time. It’s safe to say that the European wine culture stole a little piece of my heart and I already can’t wait to go back!
