Day 18 - Wine Tasting in Douro Valley

We were up and out by 10.30am & returned to the car that seems to be getting fuller by the day. We paid the car park fee of €51 for less than 36 hours parking!!

We headed eastwards out of Porto alongside the Douro River, then through the suburbs of Rio Tinto& towns of Valongo, Penafiel & Amarante, before turning south to Mesao Frio, which seemed to be the start of the Douro Valley.

We got out for a leg stretch in the attractive, but virtually deserted Mesao Frio. We found a Tourismo & went in to enquire if they sold a book with a listing of all the 2023 Portuguese campsites. There were three underemployed women members of staff, who were very keen to help us, but got the wrong end of the stick & thought we were looking for a local campsite. They got on google & showed me a car park we could camp in for free. Every time I tried to edge away thanking them for the efforts, one lady told me “Wait” & continued googling for us. It was all a bit awkward, but finally she let us escape.

The drive from Mesao Frio to Peso da Régua was spectacular. We followed a winding road that hugged the Rio Douro running pretty neck with a large pleasure cruiser on the water whilst crossing and uncrossing the Douro Valley railway line. Peso da Régua seemed to be the central transportation hub for the whole of the Douro Valley, so we didn’t stop but headed north to our accommodation for the night, the highly recommended Quinta da Estrada Winery.

We arrived at just after 2pm & met the owner, the very laidback Luis. He took us to the dining room & interrogated me on our onward plans. Following his local knowledge recommendations, my guidebook plans have changed. He confirmed our dinner arrangements with wine tasting, then told us the whole vineyard & farm were ours to explore. He also upgraded our room to an apartment with 2 separate bedrooms both with double beds. Luxury!!!

We had a wander through the vineyards, then spent the afternoon on sun beds beside the pool listening to England’s disappointing performance in the cricket. With panoramic views across the region from our sun beds it made for a tough old afternoon.

At 7pm, having dressed up a little we returned to the dining room for wine tasting & dinner. Luis was our host & the only other 2 wine & dinner diners were a couple of German blokes in their late thirties, who had no apparent desire to converse with us. Fine by us, particularly as we had separate tables anyway.

Our table was laden with three glasses of his own wine each & a smorgasbord of cheese & meats, bread, olives, olive oil & peanuts. Luis talked to us for about 20 minutes explaining the history and methods of wine production in the Douro Valley.

From the internet- The Douro Valley is one of the most appreciated wine regions in the world. The Douro Vinhateiro, as it is known, was the first demarcated wine region in the world (1756) and is considered a World Heritage Site by Unesco. It is home to beautiful natural landscapes and viewpoints. The Quintas (wineries) are located on rural properties and offer several experiences, such as spas, farm-to-table activities, balloon rides, and excellent restaurants.

Luis sat down told us that there are 37,000 separate wineries in the region & they are rigorously checked and graded before being allowed to be sold. Luis was very informative, but in a very informal manner. I am not going to attempt to reiterate his spiel.

He then left us to sample (drink) our glasses of their white & 2 glasses of their red. One was very full bodied at 16 percent proof. We started off politely, sipping wine, then eating food, then water, before getting back to the wine. Luis then suddenly came in & started topping our wine glasses. Bollocks, we had made a schoolboy error here.

From here on in, we drank our wine rapidly enough that the waitress was keen to replenish our glasses, but not so quickly that she thought we were being greedy……I hope! Dinner for me was a huge veal steak, whilst Jackie had a fillet of Dorado. Both came with potatoes and salad. It was nice, but as reviews suggested it was pretty rustic.

After dinner, Luis provided us with a couple of glasses of their own port wine & gave us more interesting anecdotes about it’s history and production. We drank the port wines with our dessert and retired to our suite gone 9pm, shattered and alcohol infused.

It was a superb evening and even though it was €50 per head, it was good value and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone.

Song of the Day : Into the Valley by The Skids.Read more