Itinerary

DAY 1 - AN OPORTO TOUR + RIVER CRUISE

Welcome to our Douro Valley wine tour! We begin with a walking tour of Oporto, a lovely port town with baroque churches and tiled facades. We’ll hear why taxes and a war with France drove the British into the welcoming arms of the Portuguese, where they seized upon Porto as a viable replacement for embargoed Bordeaux. A river cruise follows, passing under 6 bridges, including one designed by Monsieur Eiffel. Lunch is on your own, perhaps at one of the dockside restaurants.

We then cross the river to Vila Nova de Gaia, where Port is aged in riverside lodges. We start our crash course in Port at Churchill’s, one of the newer British port companies (f. 1981), where we’ll taste in style in their newly inaugurated visitor’s center. Dinner at an elegant river-view restaurant introduces Portuguese cuisine, which includes such dishes as kale soup (caldo verde), chouriço sausage, sucking pig (leitâo assado), and 365 versions of codfish (bacalhau).
D • Pestana Porto

DAY 2 – VISIT THE HISTORIC PORT LODGES

This morning we visit Graham’s (f.1820), where we’ll delve in the styles of Porto and learn the differences between ruby, tawny, late-bottled vintage (LBV), and vintage. Here we’ll see the various aging methods, including cigar-shaped barrels called “pipes” for tawny and massive oak casks for ruby. Tasting two flights of Graham’s rubies and tawnies will then help crystallize the lesson. Lunch will be in Vila Nova, either at Taylor-Fladgate’s classy restaurant or at a more informal brew-pub on the river.

Our second stop is the wine museum of Ramos Pintos (f. 1880), which showcases the early days of Port. The Ramos family pioneered the marketing of Port to new international markets like Brazil—and the use of racy images in advertising! José Ramos Pintos Rosa became known as “the Pope of the Duoro” because of his pioneering experiments in viticulture and mechanization. His research, together with current winemaker João Nicolau de Aldeida, helped determine the top five grape varieties in the Douro. You can either linger in Vila Nova and visit more tasting rooms on your own, walking back to the hotel. Or we can shuttle you directly. Dinner on your own in Oporto. 
B • Pestana Porto

DAY 3 – NIEPOORT + THE DOURO BOYS

Port is aged in Oporto, but its grapes are grown 90 miles upstream. In the morning, we drive up the Douro Valley to the Cima Corgo, where many of the finest vineyards lie. 

We arrive in time for lunch at Quinta do Nápoles, the oldest estate (quinta) owned by Niepoort. Although this Dutch family has been making Port since 1842, we’re here to taste their dry table wine. Since buying this property in 1987, Dirk Niepoort has supervised its wholesale transformation, turning a dilapidated quinta into a sleek state-of-the-art winery. As one of the so-called “Douro Boys,” he has also spearheaded a dynamic revolution in premium dry wine taking place in the Douro today. During a hearty, home-cooked lunch, we’ll taste some of these top-scoring wines, many of which are sourced from old, field-blend vineyards owned by 100 different growers. (We’re sure to sample some of their delectable Ports, too!)

Then we visit the historic Quinta do Noval (f. 1715), which lays claim to the creation of the LBV style of Port and also crafts its exceptional Vintage Nacional wine from ungrafted, pre-phylloxera vines. Tonight we settle into our second hotel, which is also a winery, Casa de Casal de Loivos, perched high above Pinhão. Dinner is in town.
B, L, D • LBV House Hotel

DAY 4 – THE FAMOUS DOURO TRAIN RIDE

The Douro is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and today we’ll soak up its awesome beauty. The occasion is a scenic train ride from Pinhão to the Douro Superiore, the driest, hottest, and most remote region for Port grapes. We’ll take the train to Pocihno, the eastern terminus of the Douro railway, just shy of the Spainish border. (There’s nothing to see in Pocihno, so we’ll have 40 minutes to kill at the station before our return trip.) For lunch, we’ll eat with the locals in Pinhao.

Then in the afternoon, we visit one of the most historic properties in the Dow’sportfolio, Quinta do Bomfim. This will be our first time at their new tasting facility, just outside of Pinhão, so we’re as excited as you are! Dinner is at a winery and B&B, Quinta do Passadouro in the beautiful Vale de Mendiz. This is a smaller-sized operation that makes exceptionally good Port and dry wine. If the weather cooperates, we’ll dine al fresco and break out the Passodouro wines.  B, D • LBV House Hotel

DAY 5 – DOURO QUINTAS BIG AND SMALL 

Today begins at Quinta do Tedo, a tiny property owned by the Bouchards, Burgundy barrel producers. It’s a charming, homey facility with a fantastic view of the Douro river, and we find their Ports to be a very good price for value. We’ll head to Regua for lunch, the main town in this area. Then it’s on to our afternoon tasting at Quinta do Vallado, another of the Douro Boys, now housed in a new architectural wonder. We finish the day with another home-cooked dinner. We’ll be visiting a couple, Ron Weustink and Jet; he works with promotionfor smaller wineries, and she’s a fabulous cook. We’ll be sampling wines and ports from his high-end portfolio, such as Poeira, Vieira de Sousa, and Lavradores de Feitoria. B, D • LBV House

DAY 6 – BOA VIAGEM! 

Drive to Lisbon airport (3-1/3 hours; if anyone flies from Porto, we can detour there). En route to Lisbon, if time allows we'll stop at Coimbriga, a Roman settlement with a dazzling array of floor pavements still intact. B

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