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Creative Current: Inside Delância and the New Language of Portuguese Terroir
Interview by Margo Gabriel
December 2025 — Lisbon, Portugal
Creative Current is an ongoing interview series offering an intimate look into the creative practices of entrepreneurs shaping contemporary Portugal. Not just what they build, but how and why they build it.
These conversations are slow and reflective, rooted in process. They explore intuition alongside strategy, place alongside purpose. Each interview is an invitation behind the scenes—into the doubts, experiments, and quiet decisions that rarely make it into press releases.
I’ve encountered Delância across Lisbon: at long dinners, art openings, and pop-ups where conversation flows easily and formality softens. It’s a drink that invites curiosity rather than instruction, presence rather than performance.
In this edition, I speak with Delância co-founders Tom Simpson and Inès Deroche Rios. Together, they are building something thoughtful and unconventional—grounded in Alentejo, yet shaped by a global creative practice.
Tom Simpson:
“There’s a common thread running through all of this. It comes down to terroir, respect for place, and how innovation fits into that journey. From the beginning, we knew this was central to the project and to who we are.”
On building a brand that honours terroir while remaining joyful and unpretentious
Both founders studied management with a focus on sustainability, shaping their belief that the environment and social ecosystems are not resources to extract from, but systems to nurture.
“At the start, we were probably too ambitious,” Tom admits. “Before launching a product, I wanted us to be part of every sustainability certification and to employ people locally before the business could realistically support it. It came from a genuine place — the desire to build something lasting, not short-lived.”
Today, the challenge is balance: scaling responsibly while keeping sustainability, terroir, and care for place as non-negotiable foundations. “Innovation isn’t about breaking away from where you come from. It’s about creating something new that still belongs.”
Inès Deroche Rios:
“When I look back, the reason we were able to honour terroir while creating something fun and unpretentious is because we didn’t come from wine.”
They learned everything from scratch — winemaking, the industry, its codes. “Sometimes I think, what are we doing?” she laughs. “But that blank canvas is also why there’s so much joy behind the product.”
From the beginning, Delância was about people and moments. A wine to be shared, not explained. An emotional experience rather than a technical one.
“With no preconceived knowledge, we asked fundamental questions: what does terroir really mean? Soil, plants, animals, insects — it’s a living system. As we’ve moved into organic conversion, even more flowers and life have appeared in the vineyard.”
Their love for Alentejo grew from its simplicity: the people, their closeness to the land, the lack of pretence. “That’s the story we wanted to tell.”
Tom Simpson:
“There wasn’t one defining moment. From the start, the ambition was to create something that didn’t quite fit existing categories.”
Countless recipes were tested. Packaging, price point, aesthetics, and storytelling evolved together. A recurring question surfaced: refinement.
“We didn’t want something overly playful or punchy. We wanted elegance — something that could emotionally sit alongside sparkling wine, while offering real flavour innovation.”
Legally, Delância may fall near vermouth or sangria, but it is neither. “For us, it’s botanical bubbles — a wine-based drink that borrows the structure of sparkling wine while opening a new flavour language. That tension is where the idea was born.”
Inès Deroche Rios:
“It still feels surreal to say we’re creating a new category. But being shortlisted for the V d’Or makes it more tangible.”
The turning point, she says, is ongoing. But one moment stood out: conversations with restaurant owners they had long admired.
“They’d say, ‘What is this? I’ve never tasted anything like it.’ When people who’ve been drinking wine for decades say that, you realise you’re truly bringing something new.”
Botanical bubbles are slowly finding space on menus — and with them, a new language.
Tom Simpson:
“For us, terroir goes beyond soil and climate. It’s the plants, the flora, the fauna, the people — all interacting.”
As Delância transitions to organic and regenerative practices, this awareness has deepened. “Just like a vineyard exists within an ecosystem, our wine exists within a mesh of flavours and botanicals.”
Terroir, for them, is geographical, ecological, and social — inseparable.
Inès Deroche Rios:
“Delância means the art of elegant delinquency. Breaking the rules — but doing it beautifully.”
The brand took over a year and a half to build. They walked the land, photographed plants, trees, houses, and focused deeply on colour. “Alentejo can seem pale at first glance, but its colours are hidden — dry, subtle, shy.”
The Iberian lynx became central to the identity: mystical, elusive, and symbolic of restoration. “Sometimes you need to get lost to find yourself again,” Inès reflects. A mid-process name change forced them to start from zero — difficult, but transformative.
Tom Simpson:
“Being part of 1% for the Planet feels like a minimum responsibility, not an achievement.”
As Delância grows, the hope is to scale impact alongside the business.
Inès Deroche Rios:
“There was no question. We wouldn’t bring something into the world that harms the planet.”
Organic conversion was challenging — with production losses of up to 75% — but it deepened their connection to nature and to the people working the land.
“The living terroir is also culture, community, and tradition. Preserving it means listening, learning, and allowing space for evolution.”
Tom Simpson:
“Delância is about micro-celebrations. Everyday moments that still deserve something special.”
Inès Deroche Rios:
“People tell us, ‘Finally, something new in wine.’ It feels like reconciliation — like wine can be this.”
Delância appears quietly across Lisbon: long tables, gallery courtyards, pop-ups where food, music, and conversation blend. It doesn’t demand explanation. It invites curiosity, presence, and lingering.
Listening to Tom and Inès, it becomes clear the wine is only one expression of a broader practice — one rooted in patience, attention, and place.
If you encounter Delância in the city, consider it an open door.
