Vila Nova de Gaia

I visited the rather disappointing Igreja de São Francisco, which was built in spare, Gothic style in the 15th century, but then it was Baroqued up with so very much elaborately carved gilt wood. It was extremely shiny. I grabbed a snack along the waterfront in the Ribeira neighborhood while I waited for the Porto Walkers Port Wine Tour to start. Our guide, Ana, walked us across to the Vila Nova de Gaia side of the river where we visited three port lodges for tastings. We started at Ramos Pinto where we learned about how port was made and the history of the company. They were founded as a local Portuguese firm in 1880 and known for their marketing acumen as well as their port. They became big exporters of port to Brazil, then were bought by Maison Louis Roederer in 1990. The next stop on the tour was Piano Douro Valley, where we tried white and rosé port, neither of which was as good as ruby and tawny ports. We finished at Vasques De Carvalho, which had an excellent tawny port. The tour was so much fun, I went out along the riverfront with some of my fellow travelers afterwards for Super Bock beer.Les mer