Urban Winery in the heart of Lisbon

Made with Love

We founded Adega Belém to be able to make wines beyond industry-driven conceptions and fashions, relying both on sophisticated craftsmanship and a deeply urban production approach. “Made with love…”  – that’s not just buzz words, but the epitome of our dedication and passion for every detail of the process, from our involvement with vineyards and vintners, to the work in the cellar, the packaging and environmental design, and our relation to our clients at the cellar door.

Beautiful Red Wines

Two outstanding red wines, one made of Touriga Franca and Touriga Nacional grapes, the other of Castelão grapes, grown on a plot on the right bank of the Tejo river, a few kilometers upstream from the bay of Lisbon, with an Atlantic climate delicately moderated by the Sintra and Montjunto sierras allowing the grapes to slowly ripen and the wines to develop intensively concentrated fresh fruit aromas of wild blueberry, plum and cherry married to elegant spices and a hint of French oak.

Tours & Wine Tastings

If you love wine and always wanted to know more about how it is actually made, what choices a winemaker has, and what makes the big difference between a EUR 3,40 wine and a EUR 32,50 wine, we recommend our winemaker led cellar tour, with tasting and light lunch, every Friday and Saturday, 11h-13h. Please inquire about availability, and then book online. You can enjoy tasting flights at the cellar door during normal opening times and without prior booking. Option for private tours in other languages and at other times. Read more.

Cellar Craft

We handcraft our wines combining sophisticated oenological knowledge with a minimal intervention approach brought about by the natural wine movement in France 30 years ago. All wines are spontaneously fermented with carefully applied temperature control. Some of the wines further ripen in clay amphorae or French oak barrels, for periods ranging from 4 to 24 months. The result are top premium wines that are organically balanced, vibrant and tantalizing.

Brut Nature Sparkling

Pairings and delicious light lunch

Enjoy handcrafted goat, sheep and cow-milk cheeses, selected cured meats, Iberian pork sausages, olives and fresh bread. Or customize your hot and cold finger-food menu via our caterer. Prices range from EUR 10,- per person to somewhere close to the infinitude of the outer galaxy.

Vineyards

Our white grapes grow in the foothills of Lisbon’s Monsanto, while the reds thrive in Estoril’s Caparide Valley and on the eroded calcareous plateaus of the right bank of the Tejo river, a few kilometers upstream from the Bay of Lisbon. Integrated vineyard management creates an ecologically sustainable environment keeping both grapes and soil in great shape, for generations to come. The grapes are hand harvested when we feel that they are ready. Read more

Whites in the light of Lisbon

Three formidable white wines made of Arinto, Moscatel Galego and Avarinho, all grown in the vineyards of Tapada da Ajuda in downtown Lisbon, overlooking the Tejo river and enjoying a slight breeze blowing up the hills, evoking an afternoon spent in the shade of a tree watching the ships pass by under a blue sky, with the muffled noise of kids playing in the street and the distanced squeaking of the tram making its way through windy streets of the old town.

Groups & Events

Family

Adega Belém is a family venture and everyone, young and old, gets involved. While David and Catarina are professional winemakers, all label designs are based on drawings by the two junior winemakers whose work so well reflects the crazy and chaotic harmony of our lives – and wines.

Pétillant Naturel 2022

Along with classical winemaking methods, we love to experiment with techniques from other times and places. It’s the second time that we make an ancestral-method on-skin fermented Pétillant Naturel, a method first used in the mid 16th century by monks of the St-Hilaire monastery in the French Pyrenees. Made of Viosinho grapes grown at the vineyards of the Instituto Superior de Agronomia in Lisbon’s Ajuda neighborhood, the wine finished its fermentation in the bottle. Unfiltered, no additives, 100% cloudy, a delicious cold companion for hot summer days.

Amphora Wines

At Adega Belém, we use clay amphorae to ferment late harvested, whole berry muscatel grapes with an extensive post fermentative maceration, and also to produce and age whole cluster fermented red wines. Because of their air-permeable porous material, clay amphorae are a great container to ferment and age such tannin-rich wines without risk of reduction. The results are stunningly vibrant red, white and orange wines with a brilliant, sometimes unusual aroma profile – through we really look here for deliciousness rather than funkiness.

The Cellar Dog Selection

The cellar dog selection are beautifully fruit-driven, unpretentious red and white wines that accompany your daily meals, aperitifs and party events. These wines are made without oak contact, thus emphasizing their pure fruit character. Both are named after the winery’s pets, Lili the cellar dog, and Cookie the cellar rabbit, who are extended members  of the team.

Holistic

We take a holistic and balanced approach to the long-term health of our grapes and vineyards, and to our winemaking practice. In the cellars, we implement a strict sustainable procedures policy, e.g. by using ultra-lightweight bottles, chemical-agent-free cleaning, energy saving inverter technology, recycled cardboard packaging, avoidance of plastic, and in-house waste water treatment. A lot of small steps at every level move the world into the right direction. Read more.

What you can do

Buy wine in ultra-light glass bottles with natural cork. Ultra-light bottles significantly reduce the wine industry´s carbon foot-print, are easy to recycle, and will not create micro-plastic. Natural cork actively absorbs CO2 while growing and maintains Portugal’s rural landscapes intact. Avoid buying wines boxed in polystyrene packaging, there are ample bio-degradable alternative materials available. Finally, PLA may well be a “bio-plastic” yet, contrary to what many may think, it does not bio-degrade in your garden compost or in the ocean. So the best is to avoid plastics altogether.