Who offers you the best porto wine in Lisbon ? Here are my favorite shops for port wine tasting in Lisbon :
If you are a fan of fortified wines, tasting Port wines in Lisbon is an unmissable experience. The Portuguese capital is brimming with wine bars, cellars, and specialized shops where you can savor these iconic nectars of Portugal.
However, rare are the establishments that offer tastings of Vieira de Sousa ports, which stand out from the others due to their unique quality.
The Vieira de Sousa house, established for more than five generations in the Douro Valley, is renowned for its Porto wines produced with passion and tradition. This family of small producers emphasizes artisanal methods like foot treading in lagares. Their wines, often award-winning, offer a perfect balance between fruitiness, spices, and complexity, making them a premium choice for connoisseurs.
You can discover them at POP, on the heights of the Miradouro Senhora do Monte. The tasting costs between 20 and 45 euros per person, depending on the range you wish to taste. On site, you can discover a fantastic cellar, an enticing gourmet shop, just steps away from the most beautiful viewpoint in Lisbon.
The historic establishment for drinking port in Lisbon was certainly Solar do vinho do Porto em Lisboa, but it is definitively closed after 65 years of existence.
Taylor’s recently opened its tasting shop in the heart of the emblematic Alfama district. This family business has been carrying on the tradition of fortified Port wine for over 325 years. It is one of the most prestigious brands in Vila nova de Gaia. It is a large, English, street-front Port Wine House. Not that this house is bad, but you will probably easily find Taylor’s at your local wine shop.
However the place remains very pleasant with a very central location just a stone’s throw from the Commerce square, on the banks of the Tagus. For €16 p.p., you can taste 3 ports accompanied by a pastel of nata.
An port wine bar above the others for tasting port in Lisbon. In the Baixa district, the most central district of Lisbon, Julien dos Santos has opened a tavern there which is dedicated to the famous fortified wine. He is himself a port producer, with the Heritage House.
With more than 100 references of Port wines, your taste buds will find what suits them. Julien and his team have the patience and the taste to share. Commented tastings of 3 to 8 glasses will change your perception of Port, which is much more complex than it seems !
And I almost forgot the most important thing : Portologia only works with small producers. Those who work hard and have to guarantee irreproachable quality in order to sell. Quite a job, and this tasting is a tribute to that !
To go well with all this, trust him with his cheese & cold meat boards. But before tasting, I would like to give you a historical reminder of these must-try wines.
The love story between the Iberian Peninsula and wine is not new. Already 2000 years ago, the writings of the Greek geographer Strabon testify to this. The inhabitants of the north of the peninsula used to drink it !
So when did the tradition of port wine arrive on the slopes of the Douro River? From the second half of the 17th century ! Portuguese wine was in great demand by the English because of Colbert, who prohibited the export of Bordeaux wines to their sworn enemy. The English are forced to look for a new supplier. Portugal then appears as the perfect producer even if the distances separating them do not facilitate exchanges…
Port, a fortified wine!
The ships set sail with the precious Port wine on board. Made well up the Douro River, the name retained will remain that of the city of expedition. Porto. The fortification of Port wine with spirit will only occur later and will then be added at a specific time during fermentation. This will give it that sweet, syrupy taste (the addition of spirit blocking fermentation) that is typical of Port and which makes it so appreciated across the Channel.
- White Port is produced exclusively from white grapes assembled according to their characteristics. The variety of colours would inspire the best artists.
- Ruby Port combines both port wines from a single vintage and port wines from blends. It owes its name to its colour. It is aged from 2 years to 6 years maximum in large casks of up to 100,000 litres. It is then bottled.
- Tawny Port, the most widespread abroad. It is aged in barrels of around 650 litres for at least 3 years. The robe of these wines adopts a so-called deep ruby evolution colour with light orange notes to amber-brown hues. The aromas most often evoke dried fruit, citrus peel, roasting and woody scents.
- Porto Rosé, which is largely ignored by port wine lovers because it is not of great interest. It is rather a marketing product for summer evenings.
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