Comida Independente Wine Bar (Lisbon)

Comida Independente was a small wine bar in the riverside neighbourhoods of Lisbon, on the Rua Cais do Tojo, and it belonged to a movement that has changed the way many people in the city drink. Listings and social media indicate that the bar has since closed, so anyone planning a visit should check before heading to the address. Its story is still a useful way to understand a part of Lisbon's modern food and drink culture.

Natural wine, a term used for wine made with minimal intervention, has become a significant trend in Portugal in the past decade. The idea is to grow grapes organically or biodynamically, ferment them with native yeasts, avoid additives and fining, and add little or no sulphur, so that the wine expresses the place and the year as directly as possible. The results can be surprising: cloudy whites, lively reds, orange wines made from white grapes fermented with their skins, and fizzy styles, with flavours that range from sharply fresh to funky. Lisbon's small bars, where staff talk through the bottles on the shelves and pour by the glass, have been a main route by which this style reached drinkers.

Portugal is well suited to the movement. The country has hundreds of native grape varieties and old vineyards in different regions, among them the Douro, the Dão, the Bairrada, the Alentejo and the Vinho Verde region, and many of them were planted long before industrial viticulture. In the Alentejo, a very old tradition of making wine in clay amphorae, the vinho de talha, has survived in some villages and has been revived by young winemakers. A new generation of producers has taken up old vineyards and made small quantities of distinctive wine, and a few of these have found a place on the lists of independent bars. Food in such places tends to be simple and seasonal, with small plates of cheese, charcuterie, tinned fish, bread and vegetables, designed to go with the wine.

The district around Cais do Tojo, between Santos and Cais do Sodré, is a good area for an evening out. It lies along the river, with old warehouses, small streets and a mix of restaurants and bars, close to the Ribeira Market and to the lively Pink Street, and the National Museum of Ancient Art is a short walk away in the nearby hills. The riverside gardens offer views of the Tagus, and the tram and train connect it to the rest of the city.

For those interested in natural wine, a number of other bars and shops in the neighbourhoods around Lisbon continue the approach, and asking in a local shop is the best way to find current favourites. The area suits curious drinkers and food lovers.