A 'Pilgrimage' to Oporto, the home of port

If you like port, this town is paradise. Nearly all the port wine lodges offer tours of their warehouses in a number or languages. Tours are either free or 500 escudos (This can be claimed back against a bottle of port after the tour). In three days we only managed to visit a few lodges. All are on the steep slope on the south of the river Douro, in a suburb called Vila Nova de Gaia. It is hard work indeed to climb the rough cobbled streets of this hill in the heat of the day, but it is worth the effort for a free sample or two. Scottish visitors are especially welcome, since all the old casks are used for the aging of whisky.

Gillian and Robin and a view of Vila Nova de Gaia from the old convent on top of the hill and a map showing the location of the port wine lodges.

Day 1

Offley

Offley was the first port wine lodge we visited and a good introduction to the production process. After the warehouse tour, we sampled some white and red port.

Kopke

Kopke is one of the smaller, Portuguese family run lodges in Oporto. They made us extremely welcome, serving us some of their more interesting tawnies, a ruby, a 95 LBV, and a series of white ports,. The warehouse cat, Arthur, came and slept on my knee for the entire length of our visit (probably needing some TLC after being stood on by Joe on the stairs).

Ferreira

Having spent so much time in Kopke, we didn't have time to have a tour of the Ferreira warehouse. We tasted a white and ten year old tawny, but decided that it was not as good as some of the other lodges we had visited.

Vasconellos

Vasconellos is another small, Portuguese family run lodge. They were very pleased to answer all our questions and let us taste some of their more interesting tawnies. They also have a very smooth brandy, which they know to be at least 40 years old, but could be much older.

Day 2

Graham's

Graham's is one of the largest port wine houses. Having been introduced to Graham's port many year ago, I was delighted to taste a new blend ' 6 grapes' that I had not heard of before. It is a blend of the 'A class' grapes from years when a 'Vintage' is not declared - very nice indeed.

Sandeman

Sandeman provided the most polished tour of our many visits. A very informative tour was given by a guide dressed in the black cape and hat of the Sandeman adverts, a slide show explained the start of the production process in the Douro valley, and a museum descibed the history of port wine manufacture. Although informative, it was not in any way as personal as our two visits to the small family run lodges.

Quinto do Noval

We made a quick visit to Quinto do Noval, where we were treated to a taste of their ten year old tawny. After a long day of port tasting, we watched the sun set over the Douro.

Day 3

Taylor's

Taylor Fladgate and Yeatman was established in 1692 and is still a British family business. Again, it was very interesting to see the production of a port we have been enjoying for many years.We had an excellent lunch in their restaurant. The grounds are populated by a rare breed of chicken and a peacock. Sadly, we had to get the train back to Vigo that evening, so we did not have time to visit any more of the great port wine lodges.