Welcome back to Table Talks ☕️ — an interview column where I pull up a seat across from tastemakers and visionaries who are blazing trails — inspiring us in the process with their story, passion, and purpose.
This month’s edition features Rafa de Lima, owner of the self-titled wine bar in Porto that’s delivering all the feels.
Sommelier of the Soul
In a quiet corner of Porto’s historic center, Rafa de Lima hosts unforgettable wine tastings that go far beyond the glass.
A certified wine expert with a background in luxury hospitality, Rafa brings both depth and knowledge to every bottle he opens.
Josh and I enrolled in a group tasting after hearing rave reviews from my dear friend visiting Portugal a few months prior.
In just two hours, we learned more about wine than in two decades of drinking it.
Through six thoughtfully selected pours, we came to understand how tannins in red wine reveal clues about its origin — and how pairing certain varieties with food unlocks a much smoother finish.
Wine runs deep in Rafa’s blood. His family hails from Monção, where they’ve run a small vineyard for generations. Harvest each year is a communal affair where friends and neighbors pitch in to pick grapes while his mom whips up a feast as thanks.
So it’s no wonder that for Rafa, wine is as much about the shared experience as it is about flavor.
He even encourages guests to mingle after his tasting — which led to Josh and me enjoying an impromptu drink with a lovely couple from Chicago that same evening.
Truth be told, building those authentic connections is at the heart of Rafa’s business. His intimate 8-seat wine bar allows him to stay in touch with nearly everyone who passes through — on social or WhatsApp.
And it’s easy to understand why he’s so well-connected; upon meeting Rafa, he welcomes you in like a long-lost friend with a gregarious personality that’s as warm and disarming as the wine he serves.
According to him, “life, in the end, is all about great moments together” and “I am so glad my life is about making people feel good.”
That gift for connection has always come naturally. But it was hospitality that taught him how to turn it into an art form.
On Cloud Wine
After high school in 2013, Rafa knew the traditional university track wasn’t for him.
Instead, he followed a deeper pull — enrolling in a hospitality program through Portugal’s Department of Tourism, which led to a coveted internship at a two-star Michelin restaurant in the South of France.
That environment shaped the trajectory of his life:
“What I loved was the dedication to just mastering your craft. I loved that vibe. And in that moment, I thought, I don't know how yet, but I want to run one of these places… Work in as many departments as possible to learn as much as possible and then I’ll figure it out.”
And Rafa did just that.
He worked with the Ritz-Carlton and Rosewood groups around the world, honing his skills across departments.
At Rosewood London — working as Chef de Rang — a quiet interest in wine began to take hold.
Despite growing up in a wine-producing family, it had never clicked for him as a potential career (or even area of interest) until that moment.
But as he moved up the ladder, he became more attuned to the executives around him — overworked, underpaid, and little life beyond the job.
They were a crystal ball into his future. With an ardent passion for hospitality, he knew remaining in the industry was a given — but yearned for a more balanced experience than that of his leaders.
It was around this time that Rafa felt an intuitive nudge to return home and build something all his own — “something very small – no employees, and absolutely no Excel sheets.” 😆
He followed that intuition and enrolled in the rigorous WSET wine certification program — while still working full-time in London.
He recalls that very first class being the moment he fell in love – when wine became his calling.
With Porto’s tourism scene poised for take off, Rafa’s entrepreneurial journey began.
Everything Happens for a Riesling
Keen on opening a wine bar, Rafa’s education at WSET proved formative — not just in technical training, but in shaping his philosophy around wine: one rooted in personal choice.
One of his instructors once said:
“The difference between drinking and tasting wine is paying attention.”
Ultimately, that was exactly what Rafa wanted to offer others: a wine experience grounded in mindfulness — one that guided people toward discovering their own palate through thoughtful questions like: What do you like about it? What do you taste here?
But finding the right space to bring that vision to life proved elusive at first.
He started looking in 2017 — but as Porto heated up, so did rent.
Then came a spark. Rafa watched Chef, the movie about a down-and-out chef rebuilding his dream from a food truck. Something clicked.
He decided to buy a truck of his own and turn it into a bona fide wine-mobile.
Sure, city permits and red tape initially slowed him down. But eventually, he found his stride at summer festivals and events throughout smaller towns across Portugal.
In due time, he’d earned enough to purchase his current space.
Rafa opened his wine bar in November 2018 but business was, admittedly, slow at first. Then, about six months later, Airbnb Experiences launched in Porto — and something clicked again; it reminded him of the concierge desks back at the hotels he used to work in, except now in digital form.
He saw the potential immediately and went all in.
And it paid off. By the end of 2019, most of his bookings came through the platform.
Then 2020 hit and the whole world stood still.
But Rafa didn’t. Tuning into the buzz around Zoom, he reached out to his Instagram community (mostly past guests) and offered a virtual tasting as a way to connect and speak of better times ahead.
By morning, he had 72 bookings.
Coincidently, Airbnb reached out to their top hosts — including Rafa — to participate in a beta program for their Virtual Experiences, requiring him to pitch directly to the C-suite.
Already ahead of the curve — having done his own version of it for the better part of a week — he nailed it.
When Airbnb’s Virtual Experiences launched just 48 hours later, the PR was explosive. From April to October, Rafa was selling out twelve sessions a day.
“I put on so much weight,” he laughs.
“I was just eating mama’s food [having moved back home during lockdown], drinking a bottle of wine for lunch, and doing tastings back-to-back.
In September 2020, an email arrived from a woman in Boston, whose last name — funny enough — was Champagne. She’d found Rafa’s virtual tastings on Airbnb Experiences and wanted to book a session for her Salesforce team.
That one request opened a whole new world for him: corporate wine events — Amazon, Google, Ferrero Roche, Space X.
You name it, he did them all.
Since then, Rafa has continued to ride a wave of pure momentum (and joy) for the last 5+ years:
His in-person wine tastings continue to sell out. In fact, he’s even expanding the tasting room concept into something that will knock guests’ socks off!
Recently, he opened a Porto cocktail bar, Geezer Bridge Club, in partnership with a dear friend (to resounding success might I add)
Plus, he’s collaborating with his parents to elevate the family winery — applying fresh takes to long-standing traditions
Rafa’s life embodies the very passion he exudes.
Reading Between the Wines
But his story isn’t one of luck — it’s about the magic of intuition. That when we tune into it, it never leads us astray.
Listening to him during our interview, I noticed the same pattern over and over:
A gentle pull. An inner knowing. A leap of faith. A click.
Whether it was pursuing hospitality instead of university. Or finally returning to his roots in wine. Or moving back to Portugal. Or launching a wine truck. Or going all in on Airbnb Experiences.
Each moment was guided by an intuitive nudge — we all innately experience — that he chose to faithfully follow. For Rafa, it was about attention; it was about having presence.
That is the cornerstone of his tastings.
He invites you to slow down and be present — to notice what resonates, both in the glass and across the table.
As Maya Angelou once said:
“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Rafa’s goal is simple: that guests walk away feeling more connected than they arrived — wrapped in that warm, fuzzy glow only good wine and even better company can bring.
Join Us! 🇵🇹
Ready to experience a wine tasting with Rafa de Lima you’ll never forget?
Then join us for our women’s retreat in Portugal.
Here’s a sneak peak at what we’ll be up to — you don’t want to miss this (click here to learn more):
Bonus 🎁
One more thing!
Before you go, I posed a round of rapid-fire questions to Rafa, which he answered below in a section I love, aptly titled:
I love the clever titles in this piece. I learned so much! Now I know exactly where I'm going while I'm in Porto!