Wine and Hospitality
Nelson Guerreiro's passion for wine was born in his childhood, during the harvests he attended with his maternal grandfather in Bucelas. His professional path began in 1995, in the world of restaurants and bars, and only later, in 1999, did he complete his training in Restaurant and Bar Service at IEFP. His first contact with haute cuisine arose at the Dom Pedro hotels, in the Il Gattopardo restaurant, followed in 2005 by the Centro Cultural de Belém, at the restaurant A Commenda, where he assumed the roles of Head Waiter and Sommelier under the guidance of António Mesquita. In 2009 he embraced, with Ângelo Santos, the Enoteca de Belém project, remaining until 2016, the year he left for London to join the team at Pollen Street Social ★. He returned to Portugal in 2018 to join Henrique Sá Pessoa at the Alma restaurant.
Career
Nelson Guerreiro has served as Head Sommelier and Brand Ambassador at Garrafeira Nacional (since 2019) and was also a trainer at the Lisbon Hotel School between 2017 and 2022. He holds several distinctions that reinforce his prestige, including the title of Best Sommelier of Portugal 2017. He holds the position of Vice-President of the Portuguese Association of Sommeliers and has been a judge in leading international competitions, such as the Decanter World Wine Awards and the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles. He also represented Portugal in prestigious international competitions such as the Best Sommelier of Europe (Vienna 2017) and the Best Sommelier of the World (2023). He is an Honorary Member of both the Confraria dos Vinhos do Douro and the Confraria dos Vinhos do Porto.
Future
As Brand Ambassador for Garrafeira Nacional, Nelson will continue to play an active role in promoting new products, regions, and trends, reinforcing the positioning of Portuguese wine in the national and international landscape. He intends to consolidate his consultancy work in the Horeca channel, expand the universe of themed tastings, and strengthen team building projects linked to wine. His journey reveals a consistent evolution: a beginning built on solid foundations, a present marked by national and international recognition, and a future that promises expansion, leadership, and new challenges in the world of wine.
NELSON · THIS MONTH