An evening with friends at Lisbon's Maria Palato

I arrived in Lisbon, Portugal's capital and largest city, home to urban wineries and wine bars, with plans to explore its wine scene. Given the city's numerous wine bars wine tasting is a popular activity. In fact knowing this, I came to Lisbon with a list of wine bars to visit. Shortly after my friends arrived in town, we booked a reservation for Maria Palato's wine bar.  What follows is an overview of how our Maria Palato evening went!

Maria Palato, Lisbon © Spaswinefood

Off to Maria Palato's

Lisbon is an inviting city to explore. During my May visit I loved hopping into an Uber and meeting up with friends across town.

Exploring Lisbon's Wine Scene © Spaswinefood

When I stepped out of the taxi my friends were waiting at the entrance to the wine bar.

Arrival at Maria Palato, Lisbon © Spaswinefood

After announcing our arrival for the reservation we were taken upstairs to a table. 

Welcome to Maria Palato, Lisbon

Maria Palato, Lisbon © Spaswinefood

I choose for us to visit Maria Palato because it is one of Lisbon's top rated wine bars. It is popular with both locals and international travelers. Another plus is that Maria Palato pours wines produced by the smaller vineyards from all over Portugal. It was a great opportunity to discover some of Portugal's smaller wine producers.

 

Wine Tasting at Maria Palato

We began with an Alvarinho.

Quinta da Lixa, Pouco Comum Alvarinho, Vinho Verde DOC 2022 

Quinta da Lixa, Pouco Comum Alvarinho, Vinho Verde DOC 2022 © Spaswinefood

Alvarinho was an excellent choice to begin our tasting. Albariño (Galician pronunciation [alβaˈɾiɲʊ]), or Alvarinho (Portuguese pronunciation  [alvɐˈɾiɲu]) meaning white, whitish, is a white grape variety grown in northwest Portugal and Spain (Galicia). It is native to the northwestern corner of the Iberian peninsula where it is planted both sides of the border. While there has been some discussion about its origin, recent studies suggest this grape is native to Galicia/Portugal. We enjoyed our Vinho Verde Alvarinho and looked forward to exploring more during our travels.

Soon a delightful charcuterie platter arrived at our table. While they also offer Portuguese food options we decided on a charcuterie platter for our visit.

Charcuterie Platter, Maria Palato © Spaswinefood

The second white wine arrived a little later. 

Zom Superior Branco, Douro 2020 

Zom Superior Branco, Douro 2020 © Spaswinefood

This Douro white wine blend is made from Gouveio, Rabigato, Viosinho, and Codega de Larinho.

A guest at an adjoining table volunteered to take a photo of us.

Evening at Maria Palato, Lisbon © Spaswinefood

Third wine poured that evening was a red wine.

Tavares de Pina, Tretas Vinho Tinto, Dão 2021

Tavares de Pina, Tretas Vinho Tinto, Dão 2021 © Spaswinefood

This Tavares de Pina red wine is a blend of Mencia, Touriga Nacional, and Rufete.

Soon another red wine blend appeared.

Adega Marel, Ilustre Red, Alentejo 2020

Adega Marel, Ilustre Red, Alentejo 2020 © Spaswinefood

This Alentejo red is a blend of Alicante Bouschet and Touring Nacional.

A red wine from the Douro followed.

Barão De Vilar, Reserva Tinta, Douro DOC 2020

Barão De Vilar, Reserva Tinta, Douro DOC 2020 © Spaswinefood

It is a red wine blend from the Douro made with Touring National, Tina Roriz, Tina Barroca, and Tinto Cão.

Some sweets arrived at our table. Yes, there was chocolate too, to pair with a port.

Barão De Vilar, 10 Year Old Tawny Port

Barão De Vilar, 10 Year Old Tawny Port © Spaswinefood

This was my first time tasting port from this producer. I must admit that when it comes to port I have been spoiled still, it was exciting to discover this producer's port.

Our host treated us to an extra pour, a Madeira.

Blandy's Madeira 5 Year Old Reserve

Barão De Vilar, 10 Year Old Port © Spaswinefood

It was great for me to revisit this wine. For my friends this was the perfect introduction to Madeira wines. Blandy's was a place I had visited earlier on a trip to Madeira. 

Overall the wines that evening gave us a great vine-filled trip across Portugal's wine regions. I would suggest the above tasting for newcomers to Portuguese wines. If you have a deeper understanding of Portuguese wines then you might want to request something more appropriate to your needs. I am sure they would be happy to accommodate you. The service and attention to details at Maria Plato's was excellent.

After a wonderful evening I hopped back into an Uber for a ride across town to my apartment. I managed to get a photo before disappearing into the night.

Maria Palato, Lisbon © Spaswinefood

Lisbon has a bustling wine bar scene with many excellent options for an enjoyable experience. I would highly recommend an evening meetup with friends at Lisbon's Maria Palato wine bar. A reservation is strongly recommended because, even in May before the peak tourist season Lisbon was very busy. Wine enthusiasts should put Maria Palato on their wine bar list. I would also add a visit to the urban winery, Adega Belém. I invite you to join me in my wine travels in Portugal and elsewhere at Wine Travels with Dr. Sharon, and at Spaswinefood on Twitter and Facebook. I am so looking forward to sharing more on my vine-filled explorations in Portugal. 

CHEERS!

Sharon 

May 2023

Lisbon, Portugal 

© Spaswinefood

Adega Belém, Lisbon © Spaswinefood

#spaswinefood travels in Portugal Lisbon #winelover