Story: Vini Portugal: All Smiles in Lisbon

When planning my recent trip to Lisbon, I found some information about Vini Portugal’s ‘Sala Ogival’ –offering free tastings of Portuguese wines – and decided to have a closer look. Having experienced plenty of tastings, usually focused more on selling and less about the wine itself, I was pleasantly surprised by the hour we spent within the beautiful tasting room in Lisbon’s Baxia neighborhood.

Upon entry, you might suspect that you had gotten the directions wrong and stumbled into an inviting art gallery. Artfully decorated, there is no overt commercial aspect to the space even though Vini Portugal is a private organisation, partially funded by the Portuguese government, partially by wine producer associations. The focus here is resolute: give the consumer a memorable experience, balanced between all the senses and they’ll become your best salesmen.

After signing in, a short 5-minute lecture introduced us to the breath and depth of Portuguese wine. I consider myself to be fairly knowledgeable on wines; however, knowing only the Vinho Verde, Madeira, and Port wines from Portugal, I was astounded to find that there are no less than eleven growing areas in this small country. After that, the tasting began: you can choose your own flight of six wines, dividing your choices across two wines out of each of the selected regions currently on offer. The three highlighted regions change every three weeks to ensure all Portugal’s winegrowers are fairly represented, although this also means you might have to make a return trip. The staff are very friendly and eager to help you make an appropriate choice based on your own personal palette and wine preference.

Once the first round is poured, you are urged to take a seat at one of the tables or plush lounge chairs and relax while filling out the wine tasting form. Partly market research, partly a bit of fun (smiley faces or frown faces are used for some ratings), the forms do encourage discussion and help you think a little deeper about the different aspects of the wine. Taking our time to fully taste each of our chosen flights, we first enjoyed some sparkling wines before moving on to a couple of rosés before finishing off with two delightfully refreshing reds. Our notes sheet was peppered with words typical of a wine tasting – ‘berries, with a hint of chocolate’ – alongside lots of smiles, both on the sheet and our faces.

After handing in our sheet, we discussed with our host some questions we had on the wine, as well as comparing our estimates on the cost of each wine with the actual prices – we did quite well on all but one. Even if you are not as lucky, you’ll still be eligible for a free gift for all your hard work. And as if all that was not enough, the tasting room also sells the wines on offer; this saves you the hassle of finding your favourites in a wine shop in town and is yet another reason why on my rating form, this Lisbon attraction definitely gets a smiley face.

Open from Tuesday to Saturday between 11.00 and 19.00, the tasting rooms are located in the Ministry of Agriculture premises in Praça do Comércio (“Black Horse Square”).

http://www.viniportugal.pt