The best place for drinking Portuguese wine in London now

Tuesday 15 July 2025 18:36

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Portuguese wine has flown relatively under the radar when compared to its neighbors, France, Italy and Spain. “I was confused when I visited the restaurant and there was nothing from Portugal,” said Max Graham, founder of Bar Douro.

“This offers such a diversity -from the mountains to the Atlantic Beach and the islands of the volcano, there are more than 250 native wine varieties. Portugal has a reputation as a good value but has far more than that to be offered.

I have noted the resurrection of delicious Portuguese wine in London for the past few years but you sometimes have to hunt to track it. These are my two top places to find it now.

Bar Douro – London Bridge & The City

Although it feels like stepping into charming local ‘tasca’, these restaurants actually contain the largest choice of Portuguese wine in the UK – and the variety is very broad. Salted, smoky, and premium grapes from the Azores Islands are offered next to traditional Palhete wine (and now trendy), where red and white wine is fermented together to create light and cold red.

Churchill Estate Grafite Branco is a brilliant choice to start eating, with crispy mineral texture, pencil shavings and cooked lemon shavings make it a fantastic accompaniment for plump and grilled garlic shrimp.

There is also Albarinos who pleases the crowd, Vinho Spritzy Verdes and the Special Weekly Change Board that Graham wants to find for customers. The dish here is authentic, relaxed and made to be shared. Croket sausage, fried cod, neck of fresh pork in bifana sauce. Small plates increase and soon you will be full of full and feel like you have been transported to the Douro Valley itself.

Joia – Battersea Power Station

At the opposite end of the Portuguese eating spectrum is Joia’s roof restaurant, which faces the iconic Battersea power plant, a crowded train and the Thames river. With a menu made by two star -star chefs Michelin Henrique Sá Pesssoa and pastel color rooms and luxury furniture, this is a modern bougie about the classic Portuguese.

A glass of Quinta Das Bágeiras Rosé sparkling is very fun with Pan Con Tomate and Iberico Ham. National pride dishes, Bacalhau à Brás, must be ordered and washed with a bottle of Quinta Do Crasto from Douro. The mixture of salted cod, potatoes, parsley and salted eggs is prepared beside the table for the theater.

Arroz de Marisco, thick thick seafood rice dishes, balanced by chef recommendations about cheerful Verde Vinho. One ladder flight takes you to an open roof where DJs appear during the summer and hotel guests swim in the Infinity swimming pool. Perfect vibrations for white ports and tonic at sunset.

Or do it at home

Taste a Portuguese house by taking a bottle of Silk & Spice (£ 9, Waitrose). This smooth and spicy red has been in the list of the best purchases of wine fans for nine years in a row.

BIN Baru #017 DOURO ROSé 2024 (£ 12.95, The Wine Society) is an elegant fruit-Fryward rose made from grapes that are usually stored for fortified grapes, resulting in delicious depth.

Wine in the Lisboa region is usually fresh, excited and affordable with Casa Santos Lime Azulejo White (£ 10.75 Vintners Highbury) aromatic white. One of the pioneering wine makers who moved this wine to the smoother wine area, Branco Hugo Mendes ‘Lisboa’ (£ 21.50, Wearefesta.co.uk) is a cream wine and complex with a kiss of sea salinity that gives an elevator.

With various and delicious bottles, this is only a matter of time before Portuguese wine takes their legal place in more wine lists throughout London.