My first venture into Northern Portugal in May...winemaker contacts

K

Karen Goetz

Karen Goetz
The wide range of disorderlies’ viticultural interests and origins makes me hopeful that you may be able to suggest specific villages, winemakers or places in the Vinho Verde region in northern Portugal. I would be delighted to hear since I have no experience yet traveling there. I’ll likely be based in Guimarães after traveling by train from Lisbon to Porto enroute.
Any favorites?
Special nooks, tiny bakeries or small bookstores in Lisbon or Porto also would delight me. I’m very curious.
I’ll be there for four weeks.

Thanks for your experience; I’ll be sure to add mine to it later, here.
 
There's only one wine bar in Porto with anything like disorderly wines. It's called Prova Wine Bar (R. de Ferreira Borges 86, 4050-116 Porto).

In Guimarães, alas, there's nothing winewise, only a good cheese shop.

In nearby Braga there's a very good restaurant with a disorderly list called Delicatum (Travessa do Taxa nº 2, 4710-449 Braga). Owners André Antunes and Joana Vieira are great people and very knowledgeable about Portugal and Galicia.

Most vinho verde is industrial, though at least it doesn't ordinarily have oak or high alcohol/extraction/concentration.

Quinta da Palmirinha and Vasco Croft are two biodynamic producers that are doing the closest thing to natural wine in the Vinho Verde area.

Ponte de Lima is a charming village, Portugal's oldest, and should not be missed (Guimarães is Portugal's oldest city).

In Porto there's a famous bookstore called Livraria Lello, but there are so many tourists trying to see the interior that you need to buy tickets to enter, deductible from any book you purchase.

In Porto there's also the Serralves Foundation, a contemporary arts center designed by Alvaro Siza.

Porto has lots of excellent seafood places, but with conventional wine lists. The house vinho verde is usually a good option. Explore the red vinho verdes, made from the inky Vinhão grape, and very different tasting.

Downtown Porto has a charming street called Rua das Flores with a nice little food shop called Mercearia das Flores.

In Arcos de Valdevez, a town in the Vinho Verde region, there's an excellent naturally-oriented producer called Tiago Teles who is worth exploring. He doesn't make vinho verde, but what he does make is very interesting.

In Lisbon there are half a dozen restaurants at least with disorderly lists, but it doesn't sound like you'll be spending much time there. Plenty of other things to see and do there, of course.

If you have any more specific questions, just shoot.
 
Sounds good, Oswaldo, thanks very much! I'll see if I can hook up with these folks. I'm curious to try the red vinho verdes. My plans are open and I'll probably stay in Porto and Lisbon for 2-3 days so your recommendations are welcome there, too. After that I will be taking what opportunities arise as I travel... I've been reading about the towns and there are tons of them that sound fascinating; thanks for the note on Ponte de Lima and the good word on Guimarães. i like to stay in one place for a while and explore. I hope to have some interesting things to report.
 
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
There's only one wine bar in Porto with anything like disorderly wines. It's called Prova Wine Bar (R. de Ferreira Borges 86, 4050-116 Porto).

In Lisbon there are half a dozen restaurants at least with disorderly lists, but it doesn't sound like you'll be spending much time there. Plenty of other things to see and do there, of course.

If you have any more specific questions, just shoot.
Click to expand...

Hi Oswaldo, I'm taking you up on Lisbon. I may spend more days here than anticipated (already fascinated after 1/2 day). Do you have favorite restaurants? I notice the wine stores so far (I'm in Restauradores area hostel) look staid.. but I've only walked around for a couple of hours. I'm willing to go anywhere if you have some favorite things.

Main plan still is to head to Arcos de Valdevez after Porto (short), Guimaraes (longer base location)...

Thanks! Karen
 
Sure, for Lisbon there are half a dozen good options which I put into a phone app called Raisin which you can download for free (available for Apple and Android), all with disorderly-friendly wine lists.

Of these, Prado and Gazeteiros I found to be especially interesting, as well as Café Tati. All have interesting wines from outside Portugal too.

There's an excellent cheese store with the redundant name of Queijaria Cheese Shop (R. Monte Olivete 40, 1200-280 Lisboa) in front of the Natural History museum that carries a handful Portuguese naturally-oriented wines. http://queijaria.wixsite.com/queijaria

There's a new food and wine store which I haven't been to yet but seems to carry my favorite Portuguese producers: www.comidaindependente.pt

There's a big wine store called Garrafeira Nacional that is unbeatable if you want to buy older Portuguese table wines, Ports and Madeiras, but is of almost no interest if you are looking for the new wave of Portuguese winemakers.

In Lisbon, I wouldn't miss the Gulbenkian Foundation museum, which has a fascinatingly eclectic collection (avoid the contemporary wing, pretty drab). There's also good contemporary art at the Berardo Collection at the Centro Cultural Belém. The new Museum of Art and Architecture and Technology is worth a visit. Of course, the Jerónimos Monastery and the Belém Tower are musts, though go early to avoid the throngs. The tile must (Museu do Azulejo) is also a must. The ancient art museum is not so interesting, but has an amazing Bosch (of the sparkplug family)
 
sounds wonderful, Oswaldo, I will check these out over the next few weeks... perambulating from the North to the Center...
Queijaria Cheese Shop is really nice and has great stuff from all over. I stuck with Serra de Estrella (superb) and a cow's cheese from Azores that is winey and tangy and good.
Thanks again...
 
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