made in ericeira 25/11/2013

Vira Copos

Text: Ricardo Miguel Vieira | Photos: Rute Póvoa/alldesign.pt

Wines, olive oils, paintings and music.

“Cling”, “pling”. The sound of the wine glasses fills the Vira Copos room in a synchronized rhythm, which is by now a staple on Fridays since the middle of October. The Rua do Caldeira, no. 52, gets crowded with people who chat holding these vessels, filled with a dark red, soft-yellow or clear liquid. Answering to requests of more refined tastes, here are served ‘tapas’, cheeses, sausages and hams, to accompany the wine tasting that this Ericeira bar wishes to consolidate as a town culture.

“I want Vira Copos to function as a wine room, where you can purchase wine, with some counselling, and with the experience being different of just going to the supermarket and get a bottle from the shelf”, tells us Sérgio Nascimento, manager of the store that opened on October 11th. Besides wanting to become the locale for sharing experiences about wine, Vira Copos aims at providing a base, a sort of entry level in a menu that leads to the typical dishes and flavors of the village. In the wine-tasting days, the idea is providing its customers with small delicacies offered by other restaurants in the area. “The return they get is in reaching people that, by any reason, don’t know these restaurants already. They get to know them, and might even become potential customers”, explains the 43-year-old businessman.

“Brloc-brloc-brloc”, it is heard yet another glass filling with wine, next to the barrels that are used as tables, and are placed in the middle of Vira Copos, a stores divided in three sections. By the entrance, on the left side, we find the balcony; on the right side a large stand with the wine bottles; and in the center of attentions there are the wine barrels. Just a few feet away, we descend three stairs to a communal area, for eating and drinking. At last, there’s the top floor, where conversations are exchanged and the exposed paintings are observed. “I also want to energize the place with painting, photography and sculpture exhibitions and book releases…”, Sérgio envisions, who has already wine tasting events scheduled up until the 20th of December. This initiative started on the 23rd of November with the opening of a painting exhibition.

There is more in Vira Copos that what its premises would antecipate. Sérgio Nascimento wishes to turn the wine bar into a food culture hub in Ericeira. The offer extends to whiskeys, Portos, brandys, muscats and even olive oils, which will be also the object of tastings soon. The accompaniments will also be diversified: besides tapas and small snacks, there will be special offers for Fridays, such as cod carpaccio or smoked salmon. “Right now Vira Copos already is the most complete wine room in the Mafra county and we have of plenty of new things coming”, he assures, while the dishes and glasses toast, as if every Friday was a celebration of wine culture.