Question 1

What kind of wines do you serve at Madame?

Accepted Answer

Wines that stop you mid-sip. We don't chase labels or brands — we chase the feeling of needing to understand what just happened in the glass. Most of what we pour is hard to find in the Algarve, and some of it is hard to find anywhere in Portugal. If a wine bewilders us, it earns a place on the list.

Question 2

Are all your wines natural or organic?

Accepted Answer

Yes, all of them. Natural wine starts in the vineyard: a vine farmed without synthetic herbicides or fungicides develops a living microbial ecosystem on the grape skins. Those wild, indigenous yeasts are what carry the fermentation — no lab strains, no shortcuts. In the cellar, our winemakers don't fine, don't run the wine through industrial filtration machinery, and use little to no sulphites at bottling. Organic farming isn't a marketing badge here — it's a prerequisite.

Question 3

What's the difference between natural wine and conventional wine?

Accepted Answer

Conventional wine is made to a recipe — lab-selected yeasts, additives for body, colour, texture and shelf stability. The result is consistent, reproducible, and tells you more about an oenologist's choices than about the place the grapes grew. Natural wine does the opposite: the vintage, the soil, the farmer's decisions all show up in the glass. It changes year to year. It makes you travel. It's less predictable — and the kind of wine that makes you put the glass down and just sit with it for a moment.

Question 4

Do I need to book in advance?

Accepted Answer

Walk-ins are always welcome. That said, booking ahead guarantees you a guided tasting — it means we have the time to walk you through each wine properly. On quiet nights we can almost always fit one more in. When in doubt, just ask.

Question 5

Can I just walk in for a glass?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely — we're a wine bar first. Most nights we have between 9 and 12 wines open by the glass: usually 2 to 3 whites, 2 oranges, 2 chilled light reds, and 2 to 3 reds, rotating week to week. If something on the list that night isn't open by the glass and you'd rather drink that, you can order it by the bottle — just add a €10 corkage fee on top of the retail price. Come as you are.

Question 6

Do you serve food?

Accepted Answer

Enough to keep you honest. We serve things that belong next to a glass of wine: sourdough with olive oil, aged hard cheeses, olives, empadas. The idea is to slow you down, not fill you up.

Question 7

Is Madame suitable for a group?

Accepted Answer

We seat groups of up to 4 comfortably. Five or six is doable — tight but fun. Larger groups work well standing. If you're planning something specific, drop us a message and we'll figure it out.

Question 8

What is a guided tasting and how does it work?

Accepted Answer

Four wines, four tasting pours — we call it a flight. One journey through Portuguese wine regions, guided pour by pour. Each glass is a conversation about soil, climate, grape variety and one of the most interesting tensions in wine right now: a new generation of natural producers rescuing what the previous one nearly lost.

Question 9

How long does a tasting take?

Accepted Answer

Between 45 and 60 minutes — it depends on your curiosity and how many questions you throw at us. We've never had a short one.

Question 10

Do I need to know about wine to enjoy a tasting?

Accepted Answer

Not at all. If anything, people who didn't grow up around wine often get the most out of it — no preconceptions, no checklist, just the capacity to be surprised. That's exactly the state of mind a good bottle deserves.

Question 11

Can I book a private tasting for a group?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Group tastings are organised before we open — a private session built around your group's curiosity and experience. Message us on WhatsApp at +351 926 257 345 or use the enquiry form on the homepage. Tell us who you are and what you're curious about, and we'll take it from there.

Question 12

Can I buy bottles to take home?

Accepted Answer

Every bottle on the list has its retail price attached. Tell us what you're looking for — an occasion, a mood, a region, a grape — and we'll translate it into the right cuvée. Six years of reading between the lines of a three-word description has made us reasonably good at this.

Question 13

Do you ship wine?

Accepted Answer

Yes — all cuvées available at lagarwines.com ship across the EU and UK. US and Canada coming soon.

Question 14

Where exactly is Madame in Lagos?

Accepted Answer

On one of the small side streets of Lagos’ old town—Rua da Oliveira 37B, in the heart of the historic center. The kind of street you stumble upon and never quite find again.

Question 15

Is there parking nearby?

Accepted Answer

No parking directly outside, but there's free parking a five-minute walk away, just outside the historic walls — the muralha. You’ll also find several indoor paid parking options around the old town.

Question 16

What are your opening hours?

Accepted Answer

We're open Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday, 5pm to 10.30pm. Hours shift with the seasons — we'll update for summer in June, when the beach runs long and the old town stays alive well into the night. Current hours are always confirmed on our Google listing.

Everything you might want to know — before, during, and after the glass.

What is this place

Planning your visit

The flight experience

Take a bottle home

Location & hours