The Bar

The room

The drinking room

96 m² indoors and a 44 m² terrace, 11.4 metres of cast bronze counter, and a back bar of seven bays in dark walnut.

The bar faces away from the sea, on purpose. By four in the afternoon the Atlantic light on this coast comes in hard and low, and a room built to look straight into it is a room nobody can sit in for three hours. So the glazing faces east onto the courtyard and the reflecting pool, the west wall is solid lime-washed concrete 400 mm thick, and the only thing lit from the front is the back bar itself.

The counter is one casting of bronze, 11.4 m long and 60 mm thick, left unlacquered so that it darkens with handling. It is the single surface on the estate that is meant to change colour. Behind it stand seven bays of dark walnut, five shelves to a bay, thirty-five shelves holding 412 bottles. Under the counter run the ice bench, the freezer well at −18 °C, three wells and the carbonation line, all of it within one step of the stool you are sitting on.

Forty-eight people fit: 14 on oxblood leather stools along the counter, 22 in the room at low walnut tables, 12 on the terrace under the slatted pine canopy. The room is held at 22 °C and the music sits at 62 dB measured at the counter, which is the level at which two people can finish a sentence across a table without lifting their voices.

48: seats, counter to terrace
14: signature drinks, in four flights
412: bottles across seven bays
640: references in the cellar

A crystal coupe holding a pale amber drink with a twist of citrus peel, beaded with condensation on dark polished stone.

Method

How a drink is built here

Every spirit is measured. The jigger is the recipe: 45 ml means 45 ml, and a build that reads 7.5 ml gets 7.5 ml, because the distance between a stirred drink that works and one that does not is about two millilitres of water.

Stirred drinks are taken to a target rather than to a count of turns — 12 to 16 % dilution, finishing at about −4 °C in the glass, which on cubes cut from the morning block takes between 30 and 40 seconds. Shaken drinks get 11 seconds with three 50 mm cubes and are poured through a fine strainer. Coupes, tumblers and stemmed glasses come out of a cabinet held at 2 °C.

The cordials, syrups, ferments and clarifications on this list are made in the room behind the bar: the fig-leaf syrup from leaves cut on the estate, the kombucha on a seven-day first ferment and a four-day second, the milk punches clarified over six hours. Each one has a written ingredient sheet, and those sheets are the reason the drinks without alcohol cost very nearly what the drinks with alcohol cost.

Pours of 25, 35, 45 and 50 ml, jiggered, never free-poured
Three ice formats — a 50 mm cube, a 300 g column, and crushed — all cut from one 12 kg block each morning
House soda carbonated to 5.5 g per litre at 4 °C
Glassware out of the cabinet at 2 °C

Stirred: −4 °C, 12–16 % dilution
Shaken: 11 seconds, three cubes
Block: 12 kg, cut daily

The list

Fourteen signature drinks

Four flights, read left to right across an evening: dry and saline first, then resinous, then long and cold, then stirred and dark. Each build is given in full, with the glass, the ice and four descriptors, so you can order the fourth one without asking.

Flight I — Dune

Dry, saline, low in sugar. These are the drinks the room opens with at four o'clock.

Marram V S€18
45 ml dry London gin · 15 ml dry French vermouth · 10 ml saline fino-style sherry · 5 ml lemon verbena cordial · 2 dashes celery bitters
Coupe at 2 °C, no ice. Stirred 30 seconds to 14 % dilution. — Dune grass · green almond · salt · white pepper
Salt Cedar V S€18
40 ml unaged highland agave spirit · 20 ml bianco vermouth · 10 ml green fig-leaf cordial · 7.5 ml lime · one pinch of flor de sal from the Sado estuary
Rocks glass, one 50 mm cube. Shaken 11 seconds, fine-strained. — Cooked agave · fig leaf · lime zest · sea salt
Low Tide V S€17
35 ml aguardente bagaceira · 20 ml manzanilla-style sherry · 15 ml clarified cucumber · 10 ml verjus · 3 ml saline solution · 60 ml house soda
Highball, one 300 g column. Built in the glass, nine seconds. — Cucumber skin · grape pomace · brine · green fennel
Cistus S€17
40 ml dry London gin · 15 ml bitter orange aperitivo · 15 ml blanc vermouth · 15 ml pink grapefruit · 10 ml cistus-honey syrup
Nick & Nora at 2 °C, no ice. Shaken 11 seconds. — Grapefruit pith · rockrose resin · honey · quinine

Flight II — Pinewood

Resinous and woody. Four drinks that take the pine canopy literally.

Resin V G€20
45 ml Highland single malt · 10 ml pine-bud syrup · 10 ml alpine root amaro · 2 dashes orange bitters
Rocks glass, one 50 mm cube. Stirred 40 seconds to 12 % dilution. — Pine bud · heather honey · gentian · dry smoke
Umbrella Pine N S€19
40 ml aged pot-still rum · 15 ml Verdelho-style Madeira · 10 ml roasted pine-nut orgeat · 10 ml lime · 5 ml demerara syrup
Coupe at 2 °C, no ice. Shaken 11 seconds. — Toasted pine nut · burnt caramel · dried apricot · lime oil
Rosemary & Ash V€19
40 ml espadín mezcal · 20 ml clarified pineapple · 15 ml rosemary-ash syrup · 10 ml lime
Tumbler, crushed ice, rosemary laid on top and lit for two seconds. — Green wood smoke · roast pineapple · rosemary · wet stone
Cork Oak N G S€20
45 ml bottled-in-bond bourbon · 10 ml oloroso · 7.5 ml toasted-oak syrup · 2 dashes walnut bitters
Rocks glass, one 50 mm cube. Stirred 40 seconds. — Charred oak · walnut skin · dried fig · cinnamon

Flight III — Atlantic

Long, cold and carbonated. Ordered most between seven and nine, and built in under fifteen seconds so the carbonation is still sharp when it reaches the table.

Westerly V€17
35 ml navy-strength London gin · 20 ml lime · 15 ml dry curaçao · 10 ml wild-fennel cordial · 70 ml house soda
Highball, one 300 g column. Shaken 9 seconds, strained onto the column, topped. — Juniper · fennel seed · lime leaf · bitter orange
Onda V€17
40 ml rhum agricole blanc · 20 ml lime · 15 ml sugarcane syrup · 4 ml anise spirit · 60 ml house soda
Highball, crushed ice, straw. Whipped 4 seconds, built long. — Fresh cane · green olive · anise · sea spray
Green Flash D G€18
30 ml Islay single malt · 25 ml lemon · 20 ml egg white · 15 ml fig-leaf syrup · 1 dash saline solution
Coupe at 2 °C, no ice. Dry-shaken 8 seconds, then 11 seconds with ice. — Peat smoke · lemon curd · fig leaf · iodine

Flight IV — Ember & Cellar

Stirred, dark and slow. Three drinks built out of the cellar and the Portuguese bay, for after dinner.

Ember V S€21
40 ml bas-armagnac · 15 ml Torino rosso vermouth · 10 ml rhubarb-root amaro · 5 ml fig-leaf syrup · one wide strip of orange
Nick & Nora at 2 °C, no ice. Stirred 35 seconds to 13 % dilution. — Prune · violet · rhubarb · orange oil
Talha N S€22
30 ml aguardente vínica from the Lourinhã DOC · 25 ml 20-year tawny port · 15 ml amontillado · 5 ml chestnut-honey syrup
Copita at cellar temperature, no ice. Stirred 30 seconds. — Dried fig · walnut · rancio · chestnut honey
Monchique V S€19
35 ml Algarve medronho · 20 ml Moscatel de Setúbal · 10 ml gentian aperitif · 2 dashes cardamom tincture
Tumbler at 2 °C, no ice, served at 8 °C. Stirred 25 seconds. — Arbutus fruit · orange peel · gentian · cardamom

V vegan build · D dairy or egg · N nuts · G gluten from grain · S sulphites above 10 mg per litre

Prices are indicative and include service. Any build on this page can be made without alcohol, at the price of the zero-alcohol list; say so when you order and the bar will tell you which of the four descriptors it loses.

The list

Eight house classics

A classic is only a classic once somebody decides the specification. These are ours, written out so that you know what will arrive. Name your own and it will be made that way instead.

To the house specification

Anything not listed here is made to the specification you give. If you give none, the bar follows the eight below.

Dry Martini V S€19
60 ml dry London gin · 10 ml dry French vermouth
Stirred 35 seconds on 50 mm cubes to −4 °C and 12 % dilution. Coupe at 2 °C. Lemon twist expressed over the surface and discarded; three olives instead, on request. Vodka and a 50:50 are both standard asks.
Negroni V S€18
30 ml dry London gin · 30 ml bitter orange aperitivo · 30 ml Torino rosso vermouth
Equal parts, stirred 30 seconds, poured over one 50 mm cube in a rocks glass. Orange zest expressed and dropped in.
Old Fashioned V G€19
55 ml straight rye · 5 ml demerara syrup · 2 dashes aromatic bitters
Built on one 50 mm cube and stirred 40 seconds in the glass, which is a slower dilution than shaking a cube and the reason the last mouthful still tastes of rye. Orange zest.
Daiquiri V€17
50 ml column-still cane spirit · 25 ml lime · 12.5 ml sugar syrup
Shaken 11 seconds with three cubes, fine-strained into a coupe at 2 °C. Served ungarnished so the lime stays at the front.
Margarita V€18
45 ml unaged agave spirit · 22.5 ml lime · 15 ml agave syrup
Shaken 11 seconds, poured over one 50 mm cube in a rocks glass. Half the rim salted with flor de sal from the Sado estuary, so one side carries salt and the other does not.
Whisky Highball V G€17
45 ml Japanese blend · 135 ml house soda
Three to one. The soda is carbonated to 5.5 g per litre at 4 °C and poured down a 300 g column in a chilled highball, one stir, nine seconds from bottle to table. One wide lemon strip.
Sidecar V€19
40 ml VSOP cognac from the Grande Champagne · 20 ml dry curaçao · 20 ml lemon
Shaken 11 seconds, fine-strained into a coupe at 2 °C. Half-rim of cane sugar, applied dry.
Spritz V S€15
60 ml bitter orange aperitivo · 90 ml Bairrada brut nature · 30 ml house soda
Built in a white wine bowl over three 50 mm cubes. The sparkling wine is the Baga brut nature from the cellar list rather than a sweeter prosecco, which takes about 8 g of sugar per litre out of the glass. Half-slice of orange.

V vegan build · D dairy or egg · N nuts · G gluten from grain · S sulphites above 10 mg per litre

Prices are indicative and include service.

The list

Six drinks without alcohol

Not softer versions of the drinks above. These are built the same way — fermented, clarified or cold-infused in the room behind the bar, measured to the millilitre — and priced within three euros of them, because they take about the same work and rather more time.

Fermented, clarified, infused

Every ferment below is started in the bar. The kombucha and the tepache run on a published schedule; if a batch is not ready the drink comes off the list rather than being made another way.

South Terrace V€13
90 ml lemon verbena kombucha · 20 ml verjus · 15 ml white peach cordial · 40 ml house soda
Seven-day first ferment, four-day second in bottle. Highball, one 300 g column. — Lemon verbena · white peach · green apple · soft acid
Fig Leaf Milk Punch N€14
120 ml fig-leaf and almond milk punch · 15 ml acid-adjusted lime
Clarified over six hours through the curd and filtered twice; served at 6 °C in a chilled tumbler, no ice. — Fig leaf · toasted almond · lime · clean length
Salt Garden V€13
60 ml rosemary and cistus cold infusion · 30 ml clarified tomato water · 10 ml verjus · 3 ml saline solution
48-hour cold infusion, no heat anywhere in the build. Coupe at 2 °C. — Rosemary · tomato leaf · brine · dry finish
Late Roast V G€12
60 ml roasted pear and gentian-root infusion · 20 ml apple verjus · 10 ml toasted barley syrup · 60 ml house soda
Pears roasted whole for 50 minutes, then infused warm with gentian root for two hours. Highball, crushed ice. — Roast pear · gentian · toasted barley · bitter finish
Pine Bench V€12
100 ml pineapple tepache · 20 ml lime · 10 ml pine-bud syrup · 2 dashes bitter orange glycerite
72-hour ferment on the skins at 24 °C, strained and held cold. Tumbler, crushed ice. — Fermented pineapple · pine bud · bitter orange · light spritz
Melides Sour V€13
90 ml white grape water kefir · 25 ml lemon · 20 ml aquafaba · 15 ml fennel cordial
Kefir on a 36-hour ferment. Dry-shaken 8 seconds, then 11 with ice, fine-strained into a coupe. — White grape · fennel · lemon · dense foam

V vegan build · D dairy or egg · N nuts · G gluten from grain · S sulphites above 10 mg per litre

Prices are indicative and include service. The ingredient sheet for each of these six is kept at the counter and will be brought to the table.

An aged bronze door pull on a deep walnut door, sunlight hard across the grain. — The counter is cast from the same bronze as the estate's door furniture, and left unlacquered.

Travertine, board-marked concrete, aged bronze sheet, dark walnut and oatmeal linen arranged on pale cloth. — Five materials, used everywhere on the estate and all five present in this one room.

An overhead view of a laid table: cream linen, sand and ash stoneware, aged bronze cutlery and a hand-blown glass. — Bar snacks arrive on the same stoneware as the restaurants, in the same sand and ash glazes.

Exact

Measures, glassware and ice

Published because a drinks list that gives millilitres and then says nothing about the vessel has only told you half the recipe.

Format	Volume	Used for	Served with
Jigger pour	25 · 35 · 45 · 50 ml	every spirit measure on this page	jiggered to the millilitre
Coupe	150 ml	stirred and shaken drinks served without ice	glass out of the cabinet at 2 °C
Nick & Nora	140 ml	stirred aromatic drinks	glass at 2 °C
Rocks	300 ml	drinks built over a single piece of ice	one 50 mm clear cube
Highball	350 ml	long carbonated drinks	one 300 g hand-cut column
Tumbler	280 ml	crushed-ice drinks and the milk punch	crushed, or no ice at 6 °C
Copita	120 ml	fortified wine and the Portuguese bay	cellar temperature, 13 °C
Back-bar pour	35 ml	every bottle in the seven bays	neat, or one 50 mm cube on request
Argon pour	75 ml	the six bottles drawn through a needle	wine at its listed temperature
White wine bowl	480 ml	100 and 150 ml pours	wine at 9–11 °C
Red wine bowl	620 ml	100 and 150 ml pours	wine at 15–17 °C
Tulip	230 ml	champagne and sparkling	wine at 7 °C

One 12 kg block is cut on the bench behind the counter each morning into cubes, columns and crushed. The freezer well runs at −18 °C, so a cube reaches the glass at about −14 °C and gives up its water slowly enough that the last mouthful of a rocks drink tastes like the first.

The back bar

The spirits library, in seven bays

Seven bays, five shelves to a bay, 412 bottles. The list below is organised the way the shelves are: by category, then by style and region, with a note on what each style tastes of and the range a 35 ml pour falls into. Bottles are named on the bay cards at the counter — on this page a style is more use to you than a label.

Bay 1 — Gin and genever

74 bottles. The working bay: six of these are poured into stirred drinks every night, and the bay card marks which.

Dry London gin€9–16
Juniper first, then coriander seed and angelica root, with a dry finish that holds up under vermouth.
The house pour for stirred drinks.
Navy strength, from 57 %€11–18
The same botanical frame at higher proof: pine resin amplified, citrus oils carried further, a long warm finish.
Used where a drink has to survive 70 ml of soda.
Contemporary citrus-forward gin€10–17
Grapefruit and lemon peel over soft juniper, with a rounder mouthfeel and less pepper.
Barrel-rested gin€13–22
Vanilla, clove and a little tannin over the juniper; drinks closer to a light whisky than to a gin.
Genever, maltwine-led G€11–19
Bread crust, malt and nut skin, with juniper sitting behind rather than in front.
Contains gluten from grain.
Sloe and fruit gin N€10–15
Damson, almond and bitter stone, sweetened by the fruit rather than by sugar.
Portuguese dry gin, Alentejo botanicals€11–17
Rosemary, rockrose and bay leaf grown within sixty kilometres of this room, with a dusty, dry finish.

Bay 2 — Agave

61 bottles, divided between tequila from Jalisco and mezcal from Oaxaca, Durango and Michoacán, plus a short shelf of raicilla and bacanora.

Unaged tequila, highland€11–19
Cooked agave, green apple and white pepper, with a brighter and sweeter weight than the lowland style.
Unaged tequila, lowland€11–19
Mineral and vegetal: black pepper, olive brine, wet earth under the agave.
Reposado, four to eleven months in American oak€14–24
Toasted agave and caramel, the oak still short enough that the plant comes through.
Añejo, one to three years€18–34
Dried fruit, cocoa and oak tannin; drunk here at cellar temperature from a copita rather than cold.
Espadín mezcal€12–22
Green wood smoke, citrus pith and wet stone, with the smoke a by-product of the pit roast rather than the point of it.
Wild agave — tobalá, tepeztate, madrecuixe€24–60
Tropical fruit and mineral smoke over a very long finish; the plants take between twelve and twenty-five years to come to maturity, which is what the price records.
Raicilla and bacanora€14–26
Herbaceous and sharp, with fermented fruit and a rawer edge than mezcal.

Bay 3 — Rum and cane

58 bottles. Organised by still and by raw material rather than by colour, because colour on this shelf tells you almost nothing.

Column-still cane spirit, unaged€9–14
Clean sugarcane and green banana, built for daiquiris and long drinks.
Rhum agricole blanc, fresh cane juice€11–18
Cut grass, green olive and salt; a different drink from molasses rum and treated as one.
Pot-still Jamaican, high ester€13–24
Overripe pineapple and varnish, with a finish that outlasts everything else on the shelf. Five millilitres changes a drink.
Aged Demerara, wooden still€13–26
Treacle, liquorice and smoke, with a thick oily weight that comes off a wooden continuous still and off nothing else.
Spanish-style solera aged€11–20
Soft and rounded: vanilla, dried apricot, low acid.
Cachaça, aged in Brazilian hardwood€11–19
Sap, spice and a bitter green edge from amburana or jequitibá rather than oak.
Overproof cane, for building€10–15
Grassy and hot, used in quantities of 5 to 15 ml to lengthen a drink without lengthening the glass.

Bay 4 — Whisky, by region

96 bottles, the largest bay, shelved by region so that a flight can be poured along one shelf. All contain gluten from grain.

Islay single malt G€13–38
Peat smoke, iodine and sea salt, with the maritime character that makes it the one whisky that works with the fig-leaf sour on Flight III.
Speyside single malt G€12–32
Orchard fruit, barley sugar and light oak; the gentlest shelf in the bay.
Highland single malt G€12–34
Heather, honey and dry spice, with more weight than Speyside and no smoke.
Campbeltown single malt G€15–40
Brine, machine oil and a trace of smoke — a small region with a flavour nothing else quite reproduces.
Blended Scotch G€9–16
Cereal, light sherry and a soft finish. The house pour and the right whisky for a highball at volume.
Irish single pot still G€11–24
Green fruit, pepper and an oily weight that comes from unmalted barley in the mash.
Straight rye, from 51 % rye G€11–22
Dill, black pepper and dry grain; the spine of the house Old Fashioned.
Bottled-in-bond bourbon, four years, 50 % G€11–24
Corn sweetness, charred oak and cinnamon, at a proof that survives dilution.
Japanese blend G€13–30
Sandalwood, pear and restrained smoke; built for water and soda, which is how it is served here.
Single grain and world whisky G€10–20
Soft, with coconut and vanilla from active oak and a short finish.

Bay 5 — Cognac and armagnac

37 bottles, including a short shelf of calvados, marc and grappa. Poured at cellar temperature; the bar does not chill this bay.

VSOP cognac, Grande Champagne€14–26
Dried flowers, white pepper and a long chalk finish that comes off the cru's limestone.
XO cognac, Fins Bois and Borderies€24–55
Candied orange, rancio and cigar box, with the rounder Borderies weight behind it.
Bas-armagnac, folle blanche€14–30
Prune, violet and dry heat; single-distilled, so more of the fruit survives the still.
Ténarèze armagnac N€16–34
Walnut and orange peel over real structure, and the bottle to pour for anyone who finds cognac too polite.
Vintage armagnac, single year€28–70
Leather, dried fig and rancio. The vintage is on the label because the cask was never blended.
Calvados, Pays d'Auge€12–24
Baked apple, cider lees and soft tannin from double distillation and long oak.
Marc and grappa€10–18
Pomace, stone fruit and a sharp finish; the same raw material as the bagaceira in Bay 7, handled differently.

Bay 6 — Amaro and vermouth

52 bottles. The bay that is open most often, because almost nothing here is drunk alone and almost everything is drunk in 10 to 20 ml.

Alpine root amaro€9–15
Gentian, mountain herb and a bitter finish that holds its line against whisky.
Rhubarb-root amaro€9–14
Rhubarb and bitter orange on a light body; the modifier in Ember on Flight IV.
Sardinian myrtle liqueur€9–14
Myrtle berry and resin over a sweet finish, served cold and neat after dinner.
Gentian aperitif, low strength€8–13
Gentian root and honey at around 16 %, which is why it can carry 10 ml of a drink without weighting it.
Bitter orange aperitivo€8–12
Orange peel, rhubarb and quinine. The Negroni and the Spritz are both built on this shelf.
Dry French vermouth S€8–13
White flowers, salt and light bitterness; opened fresh and kept cold, and anything over two weeks is poured into the staff vinegar.
Torino rosso vermouth S€8–14
Vanilla, wormwood and dried cherry, sweeter and broader than the French dry style.
Bianco and chinato S€9–16
Cinchona and cocoa over a bitter sweetness; the chinato is drunk alone, at 14 °C.
Fernet and digestive bitters€8–14
Menthol, saffron and a dry bitter length. The last thing poured most nights.

Bay 7 — The Portuguese bay

34 bottles, and the shortest walk of any bay on this list: everything here is made between the Algarve and the Minho, and three of the eight styles within an hour's drive of the estate.

Aguardente vínica, Lourinhã DOC€12–24
Pear skin, white pepper and a very fine spirit character, from an appellation that exists for brandy rather than for wine.
Aguardente bagaceira, Alentejo pomace€10–18
Grape skin, fennel and dry heat; what the region drinks after a long lunch.
Aguardente velha, long cask€14–30
Dried fig, toasted oak and caramel, with twenty years or more of cask behind it.
Medronho, Serra de Monchique€11–20
Arbutus fruit, wild herb and stone, distilled from fruit picked on the hills behind the Algarve coast.
Ginja, Óbidos N€9–14
Sour cherry, cherry stone and almond over a sweet finish. Served in 50 ml, cold, with one cherry.
Moscatel de Setúbal, 5 and 20 years S€10–22
Orange peel, raisin and pine resin from the Serra da Arrábida, an hour north of here.
Licor de poejo€9–13
Pennyroyal mint and menthol over sugar; an Alentejo house liqueur and an acquired taste, honestly described.
Aguardente de figo, Algarve N€11–19
Dried fig, nut skin and honey, distilled from the fig harvest rather than from grapes.

V vegan build · D dairy or egg · N nuts · G gluten from grain · S sulphites above 10 mg per litre

Every pour in these seven bays is 35 ml, measured. Prices are indicative, include service, and are given as the range the style covers on the shelf; the bay card at the counter carries the current bottles and their individual prices. Bottles on the fifth shelf of any bay are poured in 20 ml measures once fewer than three measures remain, at the proportionate price.

A stone-vaulted wine cellar with dark oak racking, a small tasting table with two glasses and a decanter, under one warm pendant light.

The cellar

640 references, 2.4 metres into the dune

The cellar is a vaulted room cut 2.4 m into the dune behind the bar, with 3 m of sand over the crown of the vault. It holds between 12 and 14 °C all year without mechanical cooling, which is the reason it is where it is rather than somewhere more convenient. 640 references, about 6 200 bottles. Twenty-six of them are open at any time — 20 by the glass and six drawn under argon — and that bench is what every other room on the estate pours by the glass from.

The list is weighted to where the building stands. 163 of the 281 reds and 99 of the 171 whites are Portuguese, and the parts of Portugal that get the most space are the nearest ones — Alentejo and Portalegre inland, Palmela and Setúbal to the north, and Colares, where ungrafted Ramisco still grows in sand that is not very different from the sand under this floor.

The sommelier's selection is six wines, changed every Thursday and poured in 75 ml measures as a flight of three or six. It is the least expensive way into the top of this list, and the board at the end of the counter carries what is open, the vintage, and the date each bottle was broached.

References: 640
Bottles: about 6 200
Temperature: 12–14 °C, unassisted
Open now: 20 by the glass, 6 under argon

The cellar

Wine

Organised by region and style, with the number of references held in each. Producers are named on the list brought to the table; on this page the region tells you more. Vintages run from the current release back to 1963 in the fortified section. Twenty-six of the 640 are open on any evening: 20 by the glass and six under argon.

By the glass

Twenty wines open at any time, in 100 ml and 150 ml pours, on the preservation bench behind the counter — which is also where MIRANTE, BRASA and A CASA pour their glasses from. Twelve are listed below; the other eight change weekly and are written on the board at the end of the counter.

Alentejo white — Antão Vaz and Arinto, Vidigueira S€7 / €10
Ripe stone fruit held together by Arinto's acid; the house white and the wine that goes with almost everything from BRASA.
Dão — Encruzado S€8 / €12
Fine, faintly waxy, with granite behind it. Portugal's most serious white grape on its home soil.
Bucelas — Arinto S€7 / €10
Lemon and chalk at high acid, from one of the smallest appellations in the country.
Vinho Verde — Alvarinho, Monção e Melgaço S€8 / €11
Citrus pith and salt with real weight, bone dry at 13 %. The serious end of the region.
Chablis — Burgundy S€11 / €16
Oyster shell and green apple off Kimmeridgian marl, unoaked.
Mosel Riesling — Kabinett S€9 / €13
Slate, lime and about 30 g of residual sugar carried by acid, at 8 % alcohol.
Palmela rosé — Castelão S€7 / €10
Wild strawberry and dry sand, from the vineyards on the other side of the Sado.
Vinho de talha — Vila de Frades S€9 / €13
Fermented and kept on skins in clay talhas sealed with olive oil, the Alentejo's own vessel. Dried herb, orange peel, grip.
Colares — Ramisco S€13 / €19
Grown ungrafted in coastal sand twenty metres from the Atlantic: pale, high in acid, tannic, and unlike anything else in Portugal.
Alentejo red — Alicante Bouschet, Portalegre S€9 / €13
Dark fruit and ink with a cooler edge from the altitude on the Serra de São Mamede.
Douro red — field blend S€9 / €13
Eight or more varieties in one parcel, as planted: schist, black fruit, dry tannin.
Dão — Touriga Nacional S€10 / €14
Violet and bergamot over firm tannin; the most aromatic red on the glass list.

Under argon

Six bottles held under argon and drawn through a needle, poured in 75 ml measures. Each carries the date it was broached on the neck, and nothing is poured more than 21 days after that date.

Grand cru white Burgundy S€28
The bottle that makes the whole argon rig worth owning: a 75 ml pour of something that would otherwise only be sold by the bottle.
Aged Douro red, ten years and more S€19
Dried fruit, cedar and resolved tannin, from a vintage well past its release.
Barolo, Nebbiolo S€24
Tar, rose and the tannin that needs the time the needle buys.
Northern Rhône Syrah S€21
Olive, black pepper and smoked meat from a granite slope.
Portalegre old-vine field blend S€17
A single hectare of mixed sixty-year-old vines; the wine the sommelier pours for anyone who says they do not like Alentejo reds.
Sweet Tokaji aszú S€16
Six puttonyos of botrytis, apricot and saffron, at acid high enough to finish dry.

Champagne and sparkling

72 references. Grower champagne first, then the traditional-method wines of Portugal, Italy and the Jura. Poured at 7 °C in a tulip, not a flute.

Grower blanc de blancs — Côte des Blancs S€145–380
Chalk, lemon pith and a very fine bead, from chardonnay on a single commune's soil.
Vallée de la Marne — meunier S€95–210
Orchard fruit and bread crust, broader and softer than the Côte des Blancs style.
Rosé de saignée — Montagne de Reims S€130–290
Redcurrant and pastry over firm structure; made by bleeding the must off the skins rather than by blending.
Late-disgorged vintage, ten years on lees S€260–640
Hazelnut, honey and an oxidative edge; the slowest-moving shelf and the most asked about.
Bairrada — Baga brut nature, 36 months S€48–120
Red apple skin, chalk and no dosage at all. The Spritz on the classics list is built on this.
Vinho Verde espumante — Loureiro S€38–62
Lime leaf and white flowers, dry and light at 11 %.
Franciacorta satèn S€72–140
Cream and white peach at lower pressure, which gives a softer bead.
Crémant du Jura — chardonnay and savagnin S€52–88
Nut and lemon curd with a saline finish from the savagnin.
Trentodoc — Dolomites S€64–130
Alpine, taut and mineral, grown between 400 and 700 metres.

White

171 references, 99 of them Portuguese. Served at 9–11 °C in a 480 ml bowl, which is warmer and larger than most lists manage and the reason these wines smell of anything.

Alentejo and Vidigueira — Antão Vaz, Arinto, Roupeiro S€34–180
The home region: ripe, broad, saline where the Arinto proportion is high. 31 references.
Dão and Bairrada — Encruzado, Bical, Maria Gomes S€38–210
Granite and limestone whites with fine acid and real ageing capacity. 22 references.
Douro — Rabigato, Viosinho, Gouveio S€36–190
Schist, high altitude, dry stone-fruit weight. 18 references.
Lisboa and Bucelas — Arinto, Fernão Pires S€30–96
High-acid Atlantic whites from the limestone north of the Tagus. 12 references.
Vinho Verde — Alvarinho, Loureiro, Avesso S€30–140
Granite and salt, bone dry, from the far north-west. 16 references.
Burgundy — Chablis to Meursault S€72–880
The reference point for everything else on this shelf. 24 references.
Loire — Savennières, Sancerre, Vouvray S€44–260
Chenin and sauvignon on schist and flint, dry through to demi-sec. 14 references.
Germany and Austria — Riesling, Grüner Veltliner S€42–320
Slate, white pepper and acid, from trocken to Auslese. 15 references.
Northern Spain — Albariño, Godello, Txakoli S€34–130
Atlantic Spain: salt, citrus and faint spritz. 11 references.
Italy — Etna Carricante, Friuli, Alto Adige S€42–180
Volcanic and alpine whites with length and very little oak. 8 references.

Skin-contact and rosé

44 references. The talha wines are the local ones, and the reason this category gets its own shelf rather than being folded into white.

Vinho de talha — Vila de Frades and Vidigueira S€32–120
Fermented on skins in clay talhas sealed with olive oil — the Alentejo's own method, and the oldest technique represented on this list. Dried herb, orange peel, fine grip. 12 references.
Palmela and Alentejo rosé — Castelão, Aragonez S€26–72
Pale, dry, with wild strawberry and a dusty finish. 9 references.
Provence and Bandol rosé S€38–180
Mourvèdre-led Bandol gives rosé with structure and a savoury finish. 8 references.
Friuli and Slovenia — ribolla gialla S€46–160
Long maceration, amber colour, apricot skin and tannin. 7 references.
Georgia — qvevri rkatsiteli S N€38–110
Buried clay, six months on skins; quince, walnut and grip. 5 references.
Portuguese palhete — field-blend co-ferment S€28–64
White and red grapes fermented together, as the Alentejo did before anyone sorted them. 3 references.

Red

281 references, 163 of them Portuguese. Served at 15–17 °C in a 620 ml bowl. Anything older than fifteen years is stood up two hours before opening and decanted at the table.

Alentejo — Trincadeira, Aragonez, Alicante Bouschet S€34–260
The region the resort sits in: warm, dark, with ink and dried fig and tannin that is round rather than sharp. 46 references.
Portalegre — high-altitude field blends, old vines S€44–320
The same region 600 metres higher: paler, more aromatic, markedly fresher. The best argument on this list. 21 references.
Douro — field blends and single parcels S€38–440
Schist, altitude and old mixed plantings; the structure that makes port possible, in a dry wine. 38 references.
Dão — Touriga Nacional, Jaen, Alfrocheiro S€34–220
Granite, violets and fine tannin. The most Burgundian reds in the country. 26 references.
Bairrada — Baga, long ageing S€32–190
Limestone, high acid, severe young and remarkable at twenty years. 17 references.
Colares — Ramisco, ungrafted sand vines S€64–240
Vines planted in coastal sand that phylloxera never reached, trained along the ground against the wind. 6 references.
Setúbal and Palmela — Castelão S€26–88
Sandy soils an hour north: light, savoury, built for the grill at BRASA. 9 references.
Bordeaux — left and right bank S€78–1 450
Cabernet on gravel, merlot on clay, back to 1990. 29 references.
Burgundy — Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune S€88–1 900
Pinot noir by commune and by climat. 24 references.
Northern Rhône — Côte-Rôtie to Cornas S€72–520
Syrah on granite: olive, pepper, smoked meat. 18 references.
Piedmont — Barolo and Barbaresco S€78–620
Nebbiolo, by commune, with tar and rose over structural tannin. 22 references.
Tuscany — Sangiovese S€52–380
Sour cherry, tea leaf and dry tannin, from Chianti Classico through Montalcino. 13 references.
Rioja and Ribera del Duero S€38–240
Tempranillo, in both the long American-oak tradition and the modern style. 12 references.

Sweet and fortified

58 references, and the oldest wine in the building. Poured in 75 ml measures from a copita at 13 °C, which has the bowl to carry the aroma of a forty-year-old tawny.

Port — tawny 10, 20, 30 and 40 years, colheita, vintage S N€9–46 a glass
Oxidative tawny for walnut and orange peel; vintage for fruit and tannin. The 40-year is poured in 50 ml. 19 references.
Madeira — Verdelho, Bual, Malmsey S€11–58 a glass
Heated, oxidised and effectively indestructible once opened, which is why a 1963 colheita can be poured by the glass at all. 14 references.
Moscatel de Setúbal — 5, 10, 20 years and Roxo S€8–24 a glass
Orange peel, raisin and pine from the Arrábida, an hour north of the estate. 8 references.
Sherry — fino, amontillado, palo cortado, oloroso, PX S€7–28 a glass
The whole oxidative ladder, from flor-aged fino at 15 % to Pedro Ximénez at around 450 g of sugar per litre. 9 references.
Sauternes and Barsac S€16–62 a glass
Botrytised semillon: apricot, honey, and acid underneath holding it up. 4 references.
Tokaji aszú — 5 and 6 puttonyos S€14–38 a glass
Furmint picked berry by berry, with saffron and quince at very high acid. 4 references.

Large format

14 bottles. Opened for four guests and above; tell the floor at the start of the evening so a magnum that has been lying down for six years can be stood up before it is moved.

Magnum, 1.5 l — Alentejo and Douro red S€120–620
The same wine, ageing at about two-thirds the rate it would in a bottle. 6 references.
Magnum, 1.5 l — champagne S€320–780
Grower blanc de blancs and one vintage rosé. 4 references.
Double magnum, 3 l — Douro red S€640–980
For a table of eight, decanted in two stages. 2 references.
Jeroboam, 5 l — Alentejo red S€1 450
One bottle, poured for twelve or more, and the only wine on the list that needs a stand. 1 reference.
Magnum, 1.5 l — Alentejo white, Antão Vaz S€96
Held cold from June, for the terrace in August. 1 reference.

V vegan build · D dairy or egg · N nuts · G gluten from grain · S sulphites above 10 mg per litre

Prices are indicative and include service. Bottle prices are given as the range each region covers on the list; by-the-glass prices are 100 ml and 150 ml, and fortified pours are 75 ml unless stated. Corkage for a bottle brought from your own cellar is €45, and the sommelier will tell you honestly whether the list already holds it.

Also poured

Beer, cider, coffee, tea and water

The rest of what the counter pours, specified to the same level, because somebody orders a filter coffee at eleven at night in every bar that has ever existed and it should be as good as the Martini.

Beer and cider

Eight taps and bottles, listed by style and strength. All beer is served at 6 °C in a 400 ml glass; cider at 10 °C.

Unfiltered pilsner, 4.8 % V G€7
Bread, noble hop and a dry bitter finish. 330 ml.
Dry-hopped lager, 5.2 % V G€7
Citrus hop over a clean cold-fermented base. 330 ml.
Portuguese wheat beer, 5.0 % V G€8
Clove and banana from the yeast, soft and cloudy. 500 ml.
Alentejo amber ale, 5.6 % V G€8
Caramel malt with a firm bitter finish, in the style brewed across the Alentejo interior. 330 ml.
Dark abbey-style ale, 8.0 % V G€9
Dried fruit, clove and warmth, at a strength that wants a tulip and twenty minutes. 330 ml.
Gluten-free lager, 4.5 % V€7
Light and dry, brewed from rice and maize rather than from barley. 330 ml.
Asturian natural cider, 6.0 % V S€9
Farmyard, sharp apple, no carbonation; poured from height to break the surface. 330 ml.
Minho sidra, 4.5 % V S€8
Green apple and light tannin, lightly sparkling. 330 ml.

Coffee

One of three single origins on the espresso grinder each month: a washed Huila from Colombia, a natural Mogiana from Brazil, a washed Guji from Ethiopia. The current one is chalked on the grinder hopper.

Espresso V€3.50
18 g in, 36 g out, 27 seconds, water at 93 °C.
Double espresso V€4.50
20 g in, 40 g out, 29 seconds.
Filter, single origin V€5
15 g per 250 ml, water at 94 °C, poured in three stages over 2 minutes 45.
Cortado D€4
18 g espresso, 60 ml milk steamed to 62 °C.
Flat white D€4.50
18 g espresso, 120 ml milk steamed to 62 °C, poured flat.
Oat, almond or soya V Nsame price
Steamed to the same 62 °C. Oat holds a pour best; almond carries the Guji better.
Decaffeinated V€3.50
Mountain-water process, to the same espresso recipe above.

Tea

Leaf weighed, water measured, time called. Every tea is brought in a glass pot with the leaf visible, and the second and third infusions are poured at the table where the leaf will take them.

First-flush Darjeeling V N€6
Muscat and green almond. 4 g per 350 ml, water at 85 °C, 3 minutes, one infusion.
Gyokuro V€9
Shade-grown, thick and savoury. 8 g per 200 ml, water at 60 °C, 2 minutes, three infusions.
Wuyi rock oolong V€8
Roasted mineral, stone fruit, long. 5 g per 150 ml, water at 95 °C, 45 seconds, five infusions.
Assam, second flush V€6
Malt and cocoa, strong enough for milk. 4 g per 350 ml, water at 100 °C, 4 minutes.
Silver needle white V€7
Melon and hay, very light. 4 g per 300 ml, water at 80 °C, 4 minutes.
Azorean green, São Miguel V€6
Grown on terraces in the mid-Atlantic: grassy, soft, low in tannin. 4 g per 300 ml, water at 80 °C, 2 minutes.
House herbal V€5
Lemon verbena, fennel and lemon thyme cut in the estate garden that morning. 100 °C, 5 minutes.

Water

The water programme is the one thing on this page everybody uses and nobody reads about. It runs on the estate's own supply, treated on site.

House still V€4
Filtered through four stages — sediment, carbon, reverse osmosis, polish — then remineralised to 110 mg per litre of dissolved solids and served at 10 °C. 750 ml carafe.
House sparkling V€4
The same water carbonated to 5.5 g per litre at 4 °C, which is the level the highballs on this list are built around. 750 ml carafe.
At the table Vincluded
A carafe stands on every table and at every stool, and is refilled through the evening.
Ice water Vincluded
Poured from the same supply over crushed ice from the morning block, for anyone coming in from the lap pool.

V vegan build · D dairy or egg · N nuts · G gluten from grain · S sulphites above 10 mg per litre

Prices are indicative and include service. Water is served in reusable glass carafes filled from the estate's own treated supply.

Practical

Hours, seats and the rest of it

The things worth knowing before you sit down.

A long resort terrace in the evening: low plaster seating with oatmeal cushions, bronze lanterns on the parapet, the lit pool below and the dark sea beyond.

Sit at the counter

Fourteen stools, 11.4 metres of bronze, and a bartender close enough to ask what the fifth shelf of Bay 7 is for. Open at four, every day of the year.

Plan your stay Dinner at MIRANTE Write to us

The drinking room

How a drink is built here