Wines of Portugal — Attraction in Lisbon

We were very disappointed with this experience. It seemed so promising to get to try a variety of Portuguese wines. We arrived right when they opened, were greeted and then all but ignored the whole time we were there. You pay to load a card and dispense your own wine. There is no information on what wine you are tasting only the region it comes from. Would be nice to have tasting notes or someone to go over what is available that day. When we asked they simply said it would be impossible to have tasting notes for all of the wines being as when one is empty they replace with a different one. None of the staff seemed knowledgeable about any of the wines either. A tour also came in during our visit and we were told that normally we would have to leave but they would let us stay which didn't make sense, the place is huge and could easily accommodate multiple tours and customers. We were then told to be quiet when trying to talk about the wine. We were the only ones there for most of the time, there were 3 people working and not one came to talk to us about the wine. Most of the wines are also very cheap when i know there is much better quality in Portugal Very poorly executed way to do...

I love the concept of self-serve wine tasting, and this place offers a good selection of both reds and whites for tasting via machine, organized by region, as well as wines by the glass.

Expect to wait since there’s only one staff serving everyone—explaining how to use the machines, processing payments, clearing tables and answering questions. It wasn’t busy at all but I still waited about 5-10 minutes to get started.

I thought the tasting prices were a bit outrageous (I had just purchased a bottle of one of the whites at a local market for 3.50€, and this is how much they charge for a small taste!). Same price for a taste as an entire glass. I don’t understand this pricing—their profit margins are huge!

Also wish you could taste as many as you want using the card and pay at the end, but you have to “pre-pay” (calculate how many wines you want to taste at their individual price points) which means they probably collect an unused amount at the end of each transaction since I doubt everyone is able to precisely assess ahead of time how much they’ll use.

It’s a spacious room with a window, but outdoor seating...

A great place to taste a wide range of Portuguese wines from red to white to port. The person staffing the main desk was very knowledgeable and helpful when we stopped in on a bright, sunny, late December afternoon.

If you want a "guided tour" tasting, you have to book that in advance. Otherwise, you purchase a card at the main desk that allows you to sample wines of your choice -- they're arranged around the spacious, pleasant tasting room -- and as you use up the euros on the card, you can always top it up to allow you to taste more wines. The tasting is self-service: you choose a bottle you like, insert your card, press a button, and a pour of the wine then happens.

If you like a particular wine, you can go to the main desk and purchase a bottle of it. We found the vinho verde, the red from the red wine from the Douro region, and the two ports we tasted better than any of those wines we've ever purchased in the US.

Altogether a very pleasant experience tasting a variety of good Portuguese wines in the spacious, quiet tasting room, with good guidance from the staff person at...