Bar do Castello, Lisbon – The place to discover Portuguese wine

When Sir Alex Ferguson suggested to fellow football manager Jose Mourinho that there was no decent wine in Portugal, the ever demonstrative Mourinho sent a case of Portuguese wine around to Old Trafford and Sir Alex was forced to concede defeat.

Of course this may have been a wind up ploy by the Scot in order to obtain a free case of superior Portuguese wine at his rival’s expense!

We normal folk are, by nature, stripped of such flamboyant ways of buying, giving and tasting wine. There is however, a fine little bar in Lisbon where us mere mortals can gain knowledge and experience and enjoy the delicacy and perfection of Portuguese wine in a great ambience without having to go through the heart jolting moments of a noisy football game.

A place where you can sit in a civilised fashion and sip fine wine without 22 guys panting, swearing and grunting as they kick a leather ball other around a grass park whilst the managers get all excited in a far from gentlemanly dugout!

The name of the bar is Bar do Castello. The owner speaks excellent English and is very happy to pass over his extensive knowledge of the portuguese wines in his cellar. Bar do Castello has the added bonus of being located in an exceptionally picturesque part of Lisbon, on a steep cobbled street up near the castle.

Much of the wine in Bar do Castello is reasonably priced. It is the ideal place to go for refreshment and reflection after you have visited Lisbon’s mighty and fascinating castle.

So if you happen to be in Lisbon and feel compelled to sample the very best of this nation’s wine, be sure to pay this bar a visit. Although if Sir Alex had come here first before declaring that there was no good wine in Portugal, he probably would have kept quiet and wouldn’t have received a case of Portugal’s finest wine from one of his biggest rivals.