12 February 2024

Revista de Vinhos awarded the "Oscars" for wine and gastronomy, announcing the big winners of the "Best of the Year 2023" awards, at a ceremony that packed the Archive Room of the Alfândega do Porto Congress Center and brought together around a thousand guests.

Nuno Guedes Vaz Pires, director of Revista de Vinhos and founder of Essência Co., expressed his delight at the positive response from the sector, reaffirming the magazine's commitment to highlighting the dedicated work of those who aspire to excellence in the field of wine and gastronomy.

And the winners are...

Juan Carlos Escotet, the Spanish-Venezuelan banker who founded Banesco, CEO of Abanca, which owns the Sogevinus Fine Wines group (Kopke, Burmester, Cálem and Barros brands), was honored with the "Wine Personality of the Year" award for his work and investments in the Douro and Vila Nova de Gaia.                

João Rodrigues, owner of the Canalha restaurant, former chef at the starred Feitoria and mentor of the Residências itinerary project, was awarded "Gastronomy Personality of the Year".

João Roquette, brother of fellow producers José (Esporão) and Jorge (Quinta do Crasto) Roquette, was named "Personality of the Year in Brazil" for his work on behalf of Portuguese wines in that country, at the helm of Qualimpor

João Portugal Ramos, who is said to be the creator of the modern Alentejo wine region, was awarded the "Homenagem" prize in recognition of his 43-year career in the recovery and contemporary projection of the Alentejo since the 1980s and the external visibility of Portuguese wines.

Czar 2014, a sui generis liqueur wine from the island of Pico, Azores, made by Fortunato Garcia from two hectares of Verdelho, Arinto dos Açores and Terrantez do Pico grapes planted in Criação Velha, won the "Wine of the Year" award. The three-hundred-year-old Quinta da Alorna, in Almeirim, in the Tagus region, which has been in the Lopo de Carvalho family for five generations, won "Producer of the Year".

Barbeito, a renowned and irreverent producer of Madeira wines and still Madeiran wines, led by Ricardo Diogo Freitas, was voted "Fortified Wine Producer of the Year". Also from the islands, but this time from the Azores archipelago, on the island of Pico, the Azores Wine Company, a project created a decade ago and led by António Maçanita and Filipe Rocha, won the "Breakthrough Producer of the Year" award.

Falua, a company born in the Tagus but which today spreads throughout the Vinho Verde and Douro regions, is part of the Roullier universe and has Antonina Barbosa and Rui Rosa as its key figures, was named "Company of the Year", while the title of "Brand of the Year" was awarded to Muralhas de Monção, a blockbuster from the Adega Cooperativa de Monção and an icon of the Vinho Verde region.

Luís Cabral de Almeida, the Sogrape winemaker who heads up Herdade do Peso in the Alentejo but who has worked at other properties owned by the Portuguese multinational, such as Quinta de Carvalhais in the Dão and Finca Flichman in Mendoza, Argentina, was named "Winemaker of the Year" and Mariana Salvador, who works at Textura Wines in the Dão and on her personal Revela wine project, received the "Breakthrough Winemaker of the Year" award.

Restaurants, Innovation and Service

Ricardo Morais, who coordinates the JNcQUOI group's wine service, was named "Sommelier of the Year". Garage Wines was awarded "Shop/Bottle Shop of the Year". "Wine Tourism of the Year" was awarded to Caves Niepoort, a project led by Beatriz Machado, and the city of Viseu was considered "Gastronomic Destination of the Year".

The "Innovation/Research of the Year" award highlighted the work of the PreVineGrape consortium, which brings together Deifil Technology, Sogrape, João Nicolau de Almeida & Filhos, IPB and ADVID. The "Distributor of the Year" award went to Garrafeira Soares, which has almost 30 stores and more than 300 employees in the Algarve, Alentejo and Porto.

Ferrugem, the Famalicense restaurant run by chef Renato Cunha, won the "Restaurant of the Year" award, while young Nelson Feitas, who works at Lisbon's Fifty Seconds, won the promising "Revelation Chef of the Year" category. Located in Santarém, Lanscape Farm won the "Artisan Producer of the Year" award for its sustainable practices and landscape farming.

Chef Marlene Vieira, (just like that, with a comma, in an allusion to teamwork), from the Marlene restaurant in Lisbon, was voted "Chef of the Year", and Rocco, also from Lisbon, from The Ivens Hotel, where the historic headquarters of Rádio Renascença once stood, won the "Best Wine Service" award.

Revista de Vinhos also awarded the Homage prize to a great name in Portuguese wine - producer and winemaker João Portugal Ramos. It also awarded diplomas to the 30 "Wines of Excellence" chosen by the publication's tasters and distinguished the Douro red Papa Figos 2020 from Sogrape Vinhos as "Purchase of the Year".

The Wine Magazine

Uninterruptedly published for 35 years, Revista de Vinhos is the leading monthly publication on wine, gastronomy and wine tourism in our country. The title is part of Essência Co., founded in 2004 and exclusively owned since the beginning of 2022 by Nuno Guedes Vaz Pires.

Essência Co. is today a reference in the production of wine and gastronomy events in Portugal, and also works to promote Portuguese wines in other markets - European, American and Asian. It also owns the Brazilian magazine Gula and produces the weekly programs "A Essência" on RTP and Renascença in Portugal.