Brooke's Wine Bar & Shop — Restaurant in Loulé

Mark and Patrick were Virgils in the metaphoric Inferno.

Both are accomplished wine docents, their steady hand and firm vision allowed me and my party to progress through multiple bottles for multiple sessions on our half dozen visits during our week in the Algarve. Brooke’s was our home away from home.

To back up, my party and I are Americans. Brooke’s has some tremendous stuff from California... if you haven’t had Orin Swift’s Machete, you should. Tonight. Do it. They have it and it is excellent.

However, we can get Cabernet Sauvignons and Zinfandels and things at home, so we were largely plumbing the depths of Touriga National, Alicante Bouchet, regional varietals, and - especially memorable - certain “parts unknown” of the Douro.

What I learned:

Portugal has excellent grapes. Like any serious wine nerds, my wife and I had been prepping ourselves for the trip with bottles we could find in the US from Douro, Dão, and even Alentejo… but we were unprepared for the excellent stuff they kept to themselves at home.

If you see “Niepoort” then you are in a good place. Their 21 Redoma from Douro was solid.

Passadouro 2017 Reserva. Tasty stuff.

The winner of the trip was the 1808 Field Blend… old vines in a field that are just too old to pin down by varietal (which is somewhat how Port works, as I understand it), but they plucked them and make a deep, inky juice… full of tannins and flavor… it’s an experience if they have it in stock.

Outside of the wine, I must also give accolades to Mark and Patrick for their deep sense of hospitality. Both were unfailingly kind on a personal level. Mark’s guidance to visit Loulé was arguably one of the most consequential of the trip. Mark also conjured a charcuterie plate out of thin air… it was amazing. Patrick was quick with the Coravin as we were tasting whites one afternoon… sampling vines far older than what you would find in the typical French AOC. He also recommended Restaurante Casa Velha and it was the best dinner we had in the Algarve.

Mark and Patrick… you and your team made the trip exceptional. Much...

worse food. We waited more than 15 minutes for someone to ask us what we wanted to drink. Then we waited about 20 more minutes for our starter. Then we waited like an hour for our second courses (a salad and a steak tartare) I guess they forgot them because in all that time no one came to tell us anything. When we asked the waitress what happened she went to ask and told that they burned the goat cheese. Finally the dishes arrived and I can say that it is the worst steak tartare I’ve ever had in my life. I left more than half of the steak and they didn’t have the gesture of asking how was everything. Then we ordered the bill and without surprise there wasn’t even a discount or something to compensate the terrible experience. As an owner of a couple of restaurants I really hope you get better for the sake of...

Not locals or expats so new to the place but very happy and friendly vibe. Saw the sign for a comedy nightand went to book on where the barman just took names. There was no information given about the cost or what was planned. Turned up and was seated and delivered and excellent cheese board and some delicious gyoza with a beautiful red wine and an amazing white recommended by the bar manager. Went to pay at the end and discovered it was €60 per person, which is great for the style of evening but more communication or a more detailed advert would have been good because we didn't take advantage of the bottomless wine because we didn't know what the set up was or if we were going to be charged per glass. Although we should have asked to be fair.

Would absolutely...