Wine and cheese | Lisbon, Portugal

Lisbon delicacies always test the health of our bodies – in particular, our liver. With so many quality bottles of wine and cheese, it’s very difficult to survive just even a day, without trying one of these or better yet – the duo combination…

Vinho Verde

Let’s begin with the cheese… Queijo de Azeitão. This became our favourite evening snack very quickly. We have not seen it in any other country other than Portugal, even though it was named one of the 50 best gastronomic products in the world, according to Great Taste Awards. Despite becoming our favourite cheese, in honesty – the beginning of this relationship was rocky. When we saw it for the first time in the supermarket, we wondered why the top was not covered by any packaging (everyone could touch it). Still, we decided to give it a chance and took it home where we ate it all… A few days later, our Portuguese friend took us for dinner and ordered Queijo de Azeitão as our starter. To our surprise, he cut the top of the cheese, after which he handed us spoons to scoop cheese from inside. It was at this moment, that Nico and I felt that there was still a lot for us to learn about Portugal.

And the wine! Vinho Verde is another reason why we are always happy to return to Portugal. In direct translation, Vinho Verde means “Green wine”. Please do note that this has nothing to do with the colour of this beverage. That expression means that the wine is young. The Vinho Verde is released, 3 to 6 months after the grapes are harvested. Because of this reason, the wine is rather smooth in taste, has less alcohol and is a little sparkling. Definitely perfect for a winter’s day when the temperatures soar – reaching 20 degrees.

Live don’t die! Especially not because of liver failure…