In this paper we propose and analyze stable variational formulations for convection diffu- sion problems starting from concepts introduced by Sangalli. We derive efficient and reliable ap osteri- ori error estimators that are based on these formulations. The analysis of resulting adaptive solution concepts, when specialized to the setting suggested by Sangalli's work, reveals partly unexpected phe- nomena related to the specific nature of the norms induced by the variational formulation. Several remedies, based on other specifications, are explored and illustrated by numerical experiments.