Portuguese Spirit in the Heart of Mayfair

FUN WAS HAD by all downstairs at 28-50º Maddox Street last night when Portuguese spirits took over for a wine tasting and finger food evening hosted by TASTE PORTUGAL. Group Executive Chef Ben Mellor welcomed visiting Portuguese chef Henrique Sá Pessoa (of Alma Restaurant, Lisbon) into his bustling kitchen to produce six courses of delicious Iberian specialities – three designed by each chef, with Sá Pessoa’s recognisable for their signature Asian twist – each accompanied by a carefully selected wine.

39 guests – some from 28-50º’s 20,000 strong guest mailing list; some new, coming especially for this TASTE PORTUGAL event – and 11 members of the press mingled and chatted as the food and wines were brought round, each new dish and bottle presented in turn by the experts.

The wines had been chosen by TASTE PORTUGAL’s Executive Sommelier, Arnaud Vallet of Vila Joya, to accompany the proposed dishes, complementing and bringing out their flavours, and they had been brought to the UK to be introduced with alacrity and humour by Conrad Algarve’s sommelier, Antonio Lopes. Everything was aided on its way by 28-50º’s slick head sommelier, Caroline Brangé.

The evening was opened in traditional Portuguese style with Colinas Espumante Brut Rosé, 2009, from the Bairrada region. A pinot noir grape with light and crisp sparkles, spirits were already high as TASTE PORTUGAL’s Project Manager, Justin Ultee, welcomed the guests.

The first taster course was a salad of fresh and flavoursome crab, with mango, avocado and coriander, on thin and salty croutons, designed by Mellor. This was accompanied by Anselmo Mendes ‘Contacto’, 2013, a crisp and clean white wine from the Vinho Verde. As Lopes wanted to make clear, this is a region, not a grape, and must most certainly not be translated as ‘green wine’. ‘It is not translatable,’ he insisted. ‘Just as I am Antonio, not Anthony.’

Sá Pessoa’s signature dish of tomato water, mackerel tartar and pickled cucumber, served in a bowl, was best to be ingested in between sips of the Principal Rosé Tête de Cuvée, 2010. Another pinot noir from Bairrada, also marketed by IdealDrinks, this, according to Lopes, was ‘a top rosé wine – one of the best in the world’.

The third course was Mellor’s smooth and rich foie gras terrine, paired with a sweet Malhadina Late Harvest, 2010, from the Alentejo. A marriage made in heaven.

Next came the rather more English ham hock and trotter ballotine, also by Mellor, which was matched with Vinha Formal Branco, 2010, from Bairrada. Marketed by Luís Pato, ‘the Einstein of wines’, the mineral soils of the vineyard, set amidst eucalyptus groves, create a delicious white, quite different from those already sampled. 

The final oaky white wine, Redoma Reserva, 2012, a blend of 12 grapes from vineyards that are over 80 years old, in the Douro region in the north of Portugal, was paired with Sá Pessoa’s gamba, eggplant caviar and chorizo oil, on sprinkles of toasted puffed rice and prawn heads. For me, absolutely the highlight of the evening.

Finally, another dish by Sá Pessoa, typically Portuguese suckling pork – derived from the national dish of leitão – served on a baby gem lettuce leaf with Asian pickles, was accompanied by a stunning red wine, Esporão Private Selection, 2011, from the Alentejo. After spending 18 months in barriques, this vintage only came out a couple of weeks ago, so guests at the TASTE PORTUGAL event were lucky to enjoy an extra treat.

‘It’s been truly amazing tonight,’ said one guest, Filipa Santos, who works for 28-50º but was there off duty as an interested Portuguese native, now based here in London. ‘It’s amazing to come down the stairs and find such a Portuguese atmosphere in English surroundings. The wine and food have well exceeded my expectations. Because I moved from Portugal quite a while ago, I think my idea of Portuguese cuisine is still quite traditional, like what my grandmother would cook. So to have fine dining, along with our own national dishes, matching with the wine, is just fantastic.’ She is already looking to book to return for future TASTE PORTUGAL events.

Another happy customer was Michael J Cassaras, over visiting from the USA. ‘Every wine tonight has been new to me. I had a very interesting conversation with Antonio [Lopes] and he was very engaging and talked me through all of the different wines. It’s been a very enlightening event. Now at least I have a little more knowledge about the wine and know what to order.’

Similarly, Michael Naranjo summed up the event as ‘an eye opener’. ‘The wines were great,’ he continued. ‘It was a new experience.’ And that’s what TASTE PORTUGAL is all about. Bringing the very best of Portuguese food and wine to the UK audience, making them aware of what the Iberian Peninsula has to offer.