Adegga Family Christmas Party @Alfaia Garrafeira wine bar

André Ribeirinho – the chief evangelist of Adegga  

A day after Adegga's most successful Lisbon wine market to date – 1000 #winelovers came, the Adegga family and their guests met up on Sunday evening at the wonderful Alfaia Garrafeira, run by Pedro Jorge, in the heart of Lisbon's Bairro Alta district. 

People wondering why and how Adegga has been successful would, I think, find some clues at this family party. The team, which has grown organically, clearly get on well together and there does not appear to be any dissonant egos at play here.    

 Beatriz Silva i/c of Chief Evangelist

Magnus Reuterdahl still remarkably bright eyed 

after 48 hours in Lisbon

 Roger Kolbu 

 In the red sweater – André the detective – one of the trio that run Adegga 

Fabien Lainé looks on

 Paulo Pontes – a complicated tash and Pedro's assistant at Alfaia Garrafeira

 The many facets of Ricardo Bernardo – above and below

 Have I got this the right way up? 

 

I'll try the iPhone it's easier!

 Adegga family and guests 

 In the white shirt – Daniel Matos – the third one of Adegga's lynchpins

Centre front: Hugo Fernandes – Creative Director

 Present opening 

Standing: Michael Wising – organiser of Adegga Stockholm 

in September 2015 – with his two daughters

Finding a port for some wine....

Le Roi Magnus – suitably garlanded 

Adegga Christmas Wine Market –pics from off-site event in Rubro, Campo Pequeno

We spent Friday night, the evning before the Adegga Wine Market at Rubro at the Campo Pequeno (Lisbon) – they tend to specialise in steak, which we had and was good and suitably rare except the kitchen was rather heavy handed with the salt.

 

 Stéphane Ferreira (Quinta do Pôpa) and Fabien Lainé

Roger with Marion and Justine Saurel from Montirius  (biodynamic)

in the southern Rhône making Côtes du Rhône, 

Vacqueyras and Gigondas.

Montirius was one of the few non-Portuguese 

producers at Adegga

 A studious Roger Kolbu 

 Magnus Reuterdahl equally occupied

 Fabien Lainé demonstrating cause and effect 

(above and below)

  Stéphane Ferreira 

(above and below) 

2006 Quinta do Mouro, Estremoz

brought by Stéphane and the 

best wine of the evening

 

Stéphane's 2011 Pôpa VV, Douro 

Still young but promising  

#Winelovers hangout@The Chesterfield Hotel

Ridgeview English sparkling wine 
– a great way to limber up for evening

We had a great and select #winelovers' BYOB evening at The Chesterfield Hotel in London's Mayfair on Friday night (6.11.2015). The event was kindly organised by globe trotting – Fabien Lainé, who is obviously determined to rival Luiz Alberto for racking up Air Miles – an William Wilson, the Chesterfield's sommelier. 

There can be compensations for arriving early – in this case a glass or so of Ridgeview – very well made fizz from wine producing area that doesn't needlessly persecute its supporters.

We sampled a number of good bottles (see below) including several from Catena (Argentina) who are present at this weekend's Decanter Fine Wine Encounter with Fabien helping to pour for them. 

The menu at £26 a head for three courses + discretionary service was very good value. My standout dish was a generously filled lobster omelette.     

The select group of #Winelovers
Lucinda Stevens, Sambrooke Spurrier, Ivana Lichvarikova, CRM, 
William Wilson, Fabien Lainé, Mariarita Liberati  
and Frédéric Billet 

Trio of #Winelovers:
Ivana Lichvarikova, Fabien Lainé, Mariarita Liberati 
with William hovering .... 

 

2009 L'Or. Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine from Luneau-Papin:

still fresh but showing less complexity than I had hoped

– more time perhaps?

Good value straight Catena 2014 Chardonnay

2013 Catena Alta Chardonnay – well made with properly integrated oak

– a fine partner with my lobster omelette

2013 Chardonnay Dadivas, Brazil

Slightly odd nose – palate better

2012 Nelson Chardonnay, Neudorf, New Zealand 

Zesty Chardonnay – but hoped for a little more complexity

Attractive Beaujolais Blanc (another Chardonnay)

2012 Les Pichons, Sancerre Rouge, Paul Prieur

– single vineyard showing well and helping 

to confirm qualities of Luc Prieur

 

2012 Malbec Catena

A fine 2010 Brouilly from Les Seigneurs du Terroir

2007 Charme Douro, Niepoort – remarkably

delicate and complex

Many thanks again to Fabien and William for an excellent evening.

Taberna da Rua das Flores, Lisbon: great evening with two Andrés

André Ribeirinho@Taberna da Rua das Flores

Not only is André Ribeirinho (Adegga) very good company but he wields considerable influence in Lisbon – able, for instance, to reserve a table@Taberna da Rua das Flores for the four of us on Friday night! This is a small and very popular restaurant just down from the Praça Luis de Camões, which does not normally take reservations and you can expect to queue for a table, especially on Friday and Saturday evenings.    

André Magalhães: owner and chef@Taberna da Rua das Flores

2012 Quinta da Lapa, DO Tejo

We arrrived a bit before André and chose a bottle of the 2012 Quinta da Lapa from the DO Tejo. Crisp, citric and lightly fruity this is a blend of Tamarez and Arinto.    

 Another advantage of being with André – you get to use his 

special glasses left at the Taberna – otherwise it's tumblers!

The menu explained: the idea is to choose about five 

small dishes for four people and to share

Trouble is they all sound delicious!

Brilliant first dish: small scallops with an oriental touch 

Just seared tuna coated with sesame seeds

Fish and chips au Magalhães!

Dish of creamy chanterelles

 1999 Terra Larga from Ribatejo – now Tejo

Blend of Arinto, Trincadeira das Pratas and Fernão Pires 

The 1999 Terra Larga was kindly brought by André R because he knows I enjoy old whites, assuming they are in good order as this one was. The extra bottle age has given this 1999 additional complexity with evolved, lightly oxidised notes – bottom line: delicious! Terra Larga is a small producer, who doesn't appear to be in a rush to sell his wines. Sales may be prompted by his wife when running out of storage space!

 The third white: Casal Figueira

I'm afraid details including vintage of our third white of the evening got rather overlooked by the good food and conversation. 

Our bill for four came to €124 – brilliant value for what we had – such inventive but simple cooking!

Scenes around the restaurant: 

 Looking through to the small main dining area

 If there are no tables available there is 

space on some steps to perch and eat

 People still queue to eat@around 11pm!

See Fabien Lainé's post (A table that would wake up Anthony Bourdain, in Central Lisbon!: Taberna da Rua das Flores) on Taberna da Rua das Flores and André Magalhães.