Just for a little context - I live in Portugal and drink quite a lot of (exclusively Portuguese) wine.
I visited the Wine Tasting room in Lisbon a few days ago - I was doing my “tourist guide” thing for a visiting friend so it seemed appropriate.
http://www.winesofportugal.com/en/travel-wine/wine-travel/wines-of-portugal-tasing-rooms/
(yes, they have spelt “tasting” wrongly)
Basically, you charge a “credit” card with money (2 euros upwards), and go to “wine vending machines” where tastes are either 50 cents, 1 euro, or 1.50 euros. Push the button, having placed your glass under the nozzle and you get a small dollop of wine.
Well, we spent 4 euros.
It’s a pleasant enough place, but, frankly, I simply couldn’t see the point.
I tasted an Offley 2011 Vintage Port (1.50) - there was enough to taste, yes, but it didn’t actually taste of very much at all - I’ve drunk quite a few 2011 and they all need time and air to get to a good place - this came straight from the bottle. Based on this tasting, I was very unimpressed, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t shown in a good light. It was being served from the very chilled machine that had the whites too and I’m not sure that helped.
I tasted a Noval “Fine White Port” (1.50) - I’m not a fan of white wine, or, to date, white port, and this didn’t change my mind - not much taste, and what taste there was was reminiscent of a cheap white wine.
The remaining euro I spent of a couple of cheap reds - both 50 cent dollops from cheap wine (how do I know that? - because they were selling bottles of it for 4 euros).
Now, to say I was hugely monstrously disappointed is to put it mildly.
I simply couldn’t see the point of the place.
What I had hoped for was to pay more money to taste excellent Portuguese wine - the 100 euro stuff - the Barca Velhas - the stuff that’s above my normal price range - to see if it’s worth it - to luxuriate - to be impressed by the quality of good Portuguese wine. The highest price wine I could taste was 12 euros a bottle (their web site describes this as “Premium”) - the cheapest 4 euros. These are OK wines - I drink a lot of these and I can count on the fingers (without thumb or wedding ring finger) of a single hand the number I’ve thought were simply not OK.
OK - so I had a specific agenda, which was not met.
So - who is this place aimed at?
The passing tourist perhaps - “look, see how great Portuguese wines are”.
And that’s what confuses me - almost any passing tourist is going to have lunch or dinner, and, if they’re wine people, they’ll have had a bottle of “low rung” (that’s not judgmental, just a classification) wine in a restaurant - perhaps something slightly better. Every café (and there are thousands of them) will sell you a glass of wine - to be sure it may be a bit rough, but so was some of this. A couple of wine bars I know of will sell you a decent glass for a reasonable price. So what’s the point in showing this quality of wine to them? And if you’re showing a 2011 VP, surely you need to do what’s required to show it in the best light - this was a bad advert for port wine, in my opinion.
It’s a large space, but they have only 2 machines, with 6 wines each - why not another machine, or machines, with some of the Crastos, top of the range Altas Quintas, Meãos, some of the Vinhas Velhas Patos? There are so many really very good Portuguese wines that I think would impress someone visiting - but none of them were here to test.
I tried to talk to the people running the place (who were speaking Italian amongst themselves), just to give my view of how the place could be improved, but they didn’t seem receptive - they basically said “if you want to buy some good wine, go to Garrafeira Nacional”.
I’ve heard the place can get quite full during the tourist season - so I guess they’re making their money, which is important, but the tag line says - “Admire the exhibits, taste some great wines and discover the pleasure and diversity of Portuguese wines!” - diversity - yes - the wines change all the time - “great wines” - no.
If you’re passing, it’s an interesting idea and sort of worth a look in.
I pass there quite often and I’ll poke my head in to see if they’ve hung a Noval Nacional 1931 by mistake.