Douro Valley Vineyards (Porto District, Portugal)

I am a wine lover and since I'm going to Portugal, I couldn't pass up a chance to visit the world famous Douro Valley and it's vineyards. This region is protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to it's long history with viticulture, which stretches back some two millennia. For the past three hundred or so years, the valley has become famous for producing port wine, named for the city of Porto, where the Douro River flows into the Atlantic Ocean. 

Flying from Atlanta to Madrid and then changing plans to continue on towards Porto, I met up with some of my friends that I will be hiking the Camino de Santiago with starting in a couple of days, but before that, we will be touring four wineries in the Douro Valley. When we first planned this overall trip, I asked if anyone was interested in a wine tour and six members of the group expressed interest. I set everything up through an organization called Wine Tourism in Portugal several months ago. They were very helpful and catered to my specific requirements, which was focused around visiting some of the highest quality establishments. 

After spending the night in Portugal, our shuttle driver arrived thirty or so minutes early of our scheduled departure time and I gathered the other six wine-lovers to board the shuttle and begin our two-ish hour drive up into the mountains of central Portugal. Having studied wine extensively and even taught wine education classes in the past, I was pleasantly surprised with the depth of knowledge of our shuttle driver / tour guide. His knowledge of this region and the wines made here was vast and we discussed numerous technical aspects as we drove through the drizzle and clouds before arriving at our first vineyard, Quinta da Pacheca.

As we climbed out of the shuttle bus, our guide walked up to the check-in and let our hosts know that we had arrived. Meanwhile, we explore the reception area, which included a old aging barrel (known here as a balseiros) as a tunnel with a walkway leading towards the vineyards. While a light rain was in the area, we somehow remained mostly dry. We also to the time to admire a supposedly 1,000 year old olive tree growing on the property. Within a few minutes the properties tour guide appeared and took us on a wonderful and education walk through the wineries production facilities. Once completed, we made our way to the tasting room, where we were treated to samples of two vinho verdes and three ports, including a delicious tawny (my personal favorite). Our guide wished us well and we headed for our next stop.

Our second winery was Quinta do Bomfim and instead of a tour and tasting, here we enjoyed a wine-paired lunch. The food and vino were fantastic. Our lunch included a traditional Portuguese meal of a grain salad, soup, some-type of fried fritter, fish, and of course olives and cheese. Our wines were the hosts vinho verdes, along with a tawny port to go with our desert. Another fantastic experience. 

Driving us up the mountain, our guide took us to our third stop for the day. Douro do Seixo, which is responsible for making a large portion of the well known Sandeman Ports sold commonly in the US. After an extensive tour of the facilities, we were brought to a large tasting room and offered samples of three of their ports, including a white, ruby, and a tawny. All delicious. After our tasting and with a few minutes to spare, we stepped outside onto the grounds to get some magnificent views of this gorgeous valley, whose slopes are lined with vineyards as far as the eye can see.

For our final stop, we visited Quinta do Vallado. This experience included a virtual reality viewing of the harvest itself. We entered a room overlooking the fermentation vats and were offered VR headsets. Once everyone was geared up, the 'movie' started and we were each in the vineyard pulling bunches of grapes from the vines and hauling them to their destiny. It was a unique 360° experience and everyone seemed to really enjoy it. We concluded with another tasting of this wineries products, which were some the best. We tasted a delicious 40-year old tawny, but after asking the wineries host for something special, we were given a small sampling of a 80-year old tawny, which was beyond amazing.

With our heads spinning from both the wine and the elevation, we were shuttled back to our hotel. It was an amazing experience and I can't recommend the tour company and wineries enough. Tasting these amazing wines in their country and region of origin has brought me an even greater appreciation of this nectar of the gods.