Wine Travels with Dr. Sharon
Lisbon’s urban winery Adega Belém: Where wine stories are created with love
Thursday, August 24, 2023 / Blog by Dr Sharon
Getting to know Lisbon’s wine scene included a visit to Adega Belém, an urban winery. Portugal’s capital and largest city is home to urban wineries and wine bars. Not only does Lisbon have an exciting wine scene but also you are not far from wine country. Top on my list was Adega Belém where I met up with #winelover friends, Catarina and David (winery owners who also winemakers), and a family pet. What I discovered at this family winery were inviting stories about wines, which were created with love.
During my Lisbon stay I loved exploring its foodie and wine scene. Every day while I was there I took Uber to a new location to checkout its offerings. While most folks checkout the top sites I loved exploring Lisbon because it’s exciting gastronomic scene. That day we (Carol, Sue and I) visited Adega Belém our Lisbon friend, Malfalda suggested we all meet at Pastéis de Belém, a local bakery famous for its pastel de nata (custard tart). From the bakery we walked to the winery.
Adega Belém’s winery’s symbol is a frog. The owners believe that 1) the Iberian frog’s calling story provides such a good metaphor for them and their work; and moreover, 2) Catarina used to be a professional frog scientist hence the Iberian frog became their winery logo.
One of the first things you notice about Adega Belém wines are the labels. This is a family winery where their daughter’s drawings are used on the labels. Of course each drawing tells a story. Children’s drawings are also proudly displayed in the wine tasting area.
Exploring Wine Stories
Soon we gathered around the table to taste the wines, which produced via a natural fermentation process, with minimum intervention. Their wines include a number of Iberian grape varieties like, Arinto, Encruzado, Moscatel Galego, Alvarinho, Castelão and Touriga Franca. During the tasting we were introduced to eight wines. For these wines we focused on exploring the diversity of textures, aromas and styles.
Read the full Blog post at Wine Travels with Dr. Sharon (external link)