Hugo Mendes

Join us at Bar Douro City on Saturday 18th April for a special afternoon wine tasting with Hugo Mendes, running from 4pm to 5pm.

Hugo Mendes’ journey is one driven by curiosity, passion, and a deep love of Portugal’s native grape varieties. After graduating in Biotechnology Engineering in 2005, Hugo fell head over heels for wine and joined Quinta da Murta in Bucelas, Lisboa, Portugal’s Arinto heartland. Starting out as a cellar rat, he quickly worked his way up to Head Winemaker by 2010, earning a reputation for both his wines and his thoughtful industry commentary through The Wizard Apprentice blog.

Eager to explore beyond a single estate and work more widely with indigenous grapes, Hugo launched his own crowd-funded micro-negociant label in 2016. In 2019, he left Quinta da Murta to focus fully on this project, crafting expressive, modern wines from three key Portuguese regions: Lisboa, Tejo, and Alentejo (with more to come).

Hugo works closely with local varieties, weaving his magic with Lisboa’s traditional workhorse grapes -  Fernão Pires, Vital, and noble Arinto - while in Tejo he is re-elevating Castelão. In Alentejo, he has produced an accomplished talha wine for his Underdog label in collaboration with our friends at XXVI Talhas.