A Day in the Douro Valley, Portugal
In pretty Portugal, we visited the world renown vineyards that produce Port and great tasting white and red wines. In addition to the serene beauty, the Douro valley also has very tasty food – all within 1-2 hours via car or train from Porto!
How?
Since Mary Frances is the wine trip expert, she took over the planning reins. She began our search on TripAdvisor and I went on a deep dive into the travel blog-sphere to see if there were any boutique or unique tours. Firstly, if one wants a private tour of the Douro valley and certain vineyards, I would highly recommend this site. Her tours looked really nice and we only opted for a group one to save on the costs!
In the end, we found a tour on AirBnB experiences that fit our requests! The tour provided transportation, food, river boat tour, and two vineyard visits. The reviews are also insane for this tour as well and you are treated with care and respect! Through these sites, there are plenty of day tours into the Douro Valley so it is quite easy research! In total, our tour was £100 per person, which was pretty reasonable considering it was a fully day of activities!
Onto Douro
Early on Saturday, the meeting point was in front of a McDonalds. This was not a normal McDonalds as the architecture and interior design was spectacular! We were amazed as we picked up a quick coffee and waited for our tour to begin! Shortly, two large minivans pulled up outside and our guides stepped out! Our guide was Jose and he was very friendly and personable! We had 8 people in our van, including Mary Frances, Kelly, and I so it was a comfortable fit, but not terrible! We would begin our day by driving to Duoro which was about an hour via the motorway, next would be a river boat cruise, followed by wine tour and lunch, and then end the day at a very popular winery.
During the drive, Jose taught us a little bit of Portugal history, wine history, and Porto’s most “famous” regular wine – green wine! Turns out, it just means young white grapes versus a fully mature grape! He explained the long history of Douro valley wine from the old days. When the British came on holiday, they would bring back loads of Port and wine via river boats. They would reach Porto and then to England.
In the early 1800s, a terrible disease came upon the vineyards and wiped out nearly 80% of the crop. This disease originated in the USA and brought over a bettle that utterly destroyed the roots of the vine. Supposedly, here in Portugal, two scientists discovered the cure! (We have also heard this story in other countries!) They grafted an American vine to the original Portugal vine and the problem was over! Obviously this still meant we had to wait for the vines to produce their grapes!
Douro Valley overlook
For our first break, we stopped at this amazing overlook on the Douro Valley. The serene beauty was breathetaking despite winter just ending and all the vines were nearly dead. More importantly, we had our first taste of the famous Portuguese pastry - Pastel de Nata!! Everyone has to try one!!
I’m on a boat
As advertised, we would begin our Portugal wine journey on a boat! We were really excited although most of the trip would be in the shade so it would be much colder than expected. This, we bundled up and began our wine journey through Porto.
Firstly, we learned all about the valley through the perspectative of a wine boat. For centuries, wine trade focused on these wine boats as barrels were loaded from the vineyard and transported to Porto. For the most part, it was the larger vineyards with the backing of British companies as Port was (and is!) very popular in England!
Nowadays, there are still very large families or corporations backing the bigger vineyards, but there is a lot of support for independent and organic wineries. I wonder which ones we prefer?!
Other fun tidbits include there are mangrove type trees to protect the sloping vineyard from floods. There are also orange and lemon trees to “block” the river insects from feasting on the grapes. Similar to other countries, olive trees still divide the vineyard boundaries.
Boat Tasting
This trip marked a first for MF and I - a boat wine tasting!! We were able to sample a 10 year old port. Similar to my previous port experiences, it was strong especially for 11am! Thankfully, the boat had plenty of yummy treats and charcuterie to wash down the taste ( Mary Frances’ words!).
Once the boat tasting ended, while we were frozen, we had a better appreciation for the Porto wine hard times, their unique structure, and obviously a taste of their genius!
Family Run
After our lovely boat tour, we went down into the valley to a little village and stopped at our first winery. The definition of this stop is family run. From the moment we stepped into the courtyard to buying his wine, we were surrounded by a Portuguese family. In this winery, it was half house and half winery. Unlike our other tours, this one was clearly a home with a wine shop!
For the tour, it was similar to any other wine making operation. There were a few unique parts as this was the family home of Portugal’s wine savior who prevented the beetle from destroying the industry! In their final tasting room, the family had a permanent marble spitting station. It was really cool!
Family Lunch
During our family style lunch, we also would have our first tasting. We were lucky and had a very informative session since the guide also sat at our table to answer all of our questions! As for the yummy food, we had delicious stuffed sausages, chicken and rice, and then pudim (or caramel tapioca pudding). For me, my favorite part of the meal is a close tie between the stuffed sausages and the pudim.
As for the wine, we began with a sparkling wine mixed with miscela. While Kelly and MF enjoyed it, it was not my favorite as it was very sweet and heavy. Throughout the meal, we mixed a 2017 white and a red wine with our various courses. Another perk of the guide sitting at our table was we had unlimited refills since the bottles sat at our table! While we did not have any port, my favorite was their red wine!
Before we left the vineyard, we had the opportunity to support the vineyard. This is usually an awkward part where 1-2 people buy wine and then the others just sit there… Thankfully there was a long line because the prices were surprisingly cheap! Each bottle was only 7-10 euros versus the 30+ euros in other countries.
Quinta de Pacheca
For our second and final stop of the day, we went to Quinta de Pacheca. This quinta has a gorgeous mansion and is surrounded by vineyards. Pacheca also has a hotel, event space, and one of the coolest hotel rooms - a wine barrel!In this tour, the guide approached it differently as he really cared about the Pacheca history and how they remain close to the traditional ways.
Opened in 1761, Pacheca is one of the oldest wineries to remain in family or local hands. By far, one of the coolest and unique part of the tour was the wine stomping grounds. Every year, Pacheca offers packages for people to participate in the traditional harvest, stomp on the grapes (after a thorough cleaning session), and then get a bottle of wine the next year. We will definitely be back!
Ruby versus Tawny
Now, for the Pacheco wine, we had a full course of knowledge and tastings! On the tour, we explored the vast Port and wine cellars. The grand finale was definitely the best setting as they have barrels of Port surrounding the group in an intimate setting. From that moment, our Port lives changed for the better! We learned that there are 2 main types of Port - Ruby and Tawny. Ruby is a more red wine and is not aged as long as Tawny. Therefore it is a little more sweet and retains its natural characteristics.
On the other hand, Tawny is more popular and is aged for much longer than ruby. For Kelly and I, we preferred the Ruby as it wasn’t as bitter or gross. Sorry, we just don’t like it!Bottoms Up!For our tasting, we instantly knew this one would be different as it focused more on Port than wine. Port is definitely an acquired taste! Most of our group and the other group in the tour didn’t finish their samples and I felt bad for the poor guide!For Port, we had five different kinds, 3 Port and 2 normal wines (extra because we were so nice!):
- Ruby Port 2012 - this was very nice. It hit all the right notes and had a nice finish. We bought this bottle!
- 20 year Tawny - again, as far as tawny port goes, this bottle was good. Just not my cup of tea’
- Douro Reserve 2015 - This is a very good red wine. We really liked it! We bought this bottle.
- Reserva 2015 Touriga Nacional Duoro Grande - We thought this wine was smooth and earthy, very nice!
- Porto Pink - Just no. I did not like it. MF thought it was decent but definitely my leaset favourite!
At the Quinta
By far, our experience at the Quinta was one of the best in the world. Not only did they share their history, they also shared cool insights and definitely made us want to come back! In the future, we will stomp our own grapes and possibly stay in their wine barrel rooms!
The Unchartered 13:
Here are our top tips for a Douro Valley Adventure!
- We highly recommend this tour! The guides are really friendly, shared their history, and brought us to outstanding local wineries where we had fantastic Portuguese food and wine!
- Wow, the food is extremely good and cheap! Compared to other Italian or even French wine tours, it is over £50 per person cheaper on this tour. Plus, the takeaway bottles are also cheap!
- Ultimately, Porto and Douro Valley combine to make a perfect weekend trip! For us, the easy access of a city with plenty to do combined with the peaceful countryside is why we came here!
- For those who prefer the countryside, I recommend staying in the valley. There is easy access via train (aim for the town of Lamego) or renting a car is easy! There is so much beautiful countryside!