| The last Saturday in November 2019 saw the 10th anniversary event of the Adegga Wine Market that brings wine consumers and producers together in Lisbon. It’s a great opportunity for wine lovers to meet and chat with some of the best Portuguese producers, taste their wines and buy them at a discounted rate. Adegga is run by a trio: André Ribeirinho, André Cid and Daniel Matos. Ribeirinho is the CEO and the public face of Adegga. Cid manages the events and their website, while Matos is the IT manager and looks after the wine logistics as well as the finance. They set up Adegga in 2006 as one of the first on-line wine platforms allowing consumers to post wine reviews and be in contact with producers. The next logical step was to bring these enthusiasts and wine producers face to face. December 2009 saw the first Wine Market in Lisbon attended by 13 producers and 200 wine lovers. ‘We wanted to do something different,’ explains Ribeirinho. ‘It would be us who selected and invited the producers. The tastings had to be relaxed and comfortable and all the wines on taste could be purchased.’ Now, 10 years later, the November 2019 edition offered more than 600 wines from 70 producers to taste. All the wines were Portuguese except for a selection from Etna, which were very popular. Top estates present included Casa Ferreirinha, Mouchão, Niepoort, Quinta Vale D Maria and the Symington Family Estates. Ticket prices range from the basic €20: the chance to taste all the wines using a Riedel SmartGlass. A €40 ticket (€60 for a couple) includes wine to an equivalent value when purchasing through the Adegga site, which is open for 10 days around the time of the Market with a 10% discount on orders placed up to two days after the event. For €75 you get entry to the Premium Room showing a selection some of Portugal’s best wines. The line up this year wasn’t quite as stellar in past years but did include two wonderful Colheitas – 1966 Kopke and 1967 Pocas. Overall ticket sales were limited to 1,100. All this might seem academic as the event is now over for this year, but the good news is that Adegga has now expanded beyond Lisbon. Wine Markets have taken place in Berlin, Brussels and Stockholm, with five in Rio, where Adegga was the consultant. For 2020 the Wine Market in Porto will be in early May, while the summer Lisbon Market will be in June and the winter one in December. These events come highly recommended as a convivial way to learn more about Portuguese wines – and have a happy absence of visitors, who have overindulged. Adegga also works throughout the year with 90 producers offering marketing and promotional support with social media and the internet playing an important part. This support includes a wine magazine, an annual wine guide, André Ribeirinho’s 50 best value wines and a guide to Portugal’s 100 best restaurants as voted by the producers (with each contributing winery recommending two of their wines to match the restaurant’s food). Setting up an all-year e-commerce site and holding a Wine Market in Spain, possibly in Madrid, are the new projects for 2020. The e-commerce site will sell wine as well as providing a marketing and logistics platform to assist producers with whom Adegga work. Adegga website: https://pt.adegga.com/ |
| AUTHOR Jim Budd has been writing about Loire wine since 1988, a year after he bought a house with his friends in the Cher Valley. Jim writes for Wine Behind The Label as well as his own blog Jim’s Loire. |
Adegga - Their Innovative Wine Markets and More
