Introduction to the Douro Valley
What a day I had today! Up early to meet my full day tour to the Douro Valley, along with 40 other people in my group. Large group tours are not really my thing, but without a car, this was the best way to check out the Douro Valley which is about an hour and a half drive outside Porto. Full day tours can be hit or miss, especially when there’s lots of driving, but your tour guide can make the difference. Igor was our guide for the day and he did not disappoint...a Porto local who had a very strong resemblance to a long haired Keanu Reeves.
The Douro Valley is unique in its climate and that is why it makes for such good conditions to grow grapes for port wine production. Apparently it has 2 seasons...winter and hell!! Winter lasts about 7-9 months with lots of rain and summer temperatures average between 45-50 degrees!!! Way too hot for me and I can’t imagine harvesting the grapes in that heat in September.
Some of the vineyards still stomp their grapes by foot...a week long gruelling process where 4 hours a day the workers stand in a single line with arms linked and march on the grapes - literally! As they stomp the grapes, the seeds eventually come to the top and cause your legs to get very itchy...but you can’t scratch them or you will break the line and damage the grapes. Sounds like torture to me...and not exactly what I envisioned after watching Lucile Ball stomp on grapes!
As we drove towards the valley, we learned about the different wines of the region...the government has strict rules around growing and producing port wine and this is in part how the quality of the wine was elevated over the years. Grapes must be gown in this specific area of the Douro valley to be called port wine...creating exclusivity.
The Portuguese have been making win in the Douro Valley for hundreds of years, so I’m thinking they have the process down pat. The microclimate of the valley is a critical piece, as well as the composition of the soil...or lack there of. There is little soil where the vines grow and instead, a type of crushed rock called schist helps with ensuring the grapes receive just the right amount of water and irrigation from the rain in the winter months…they do not water the vines outside what they receive from rain. The hot summers are also what help produce grapes with such a high sugar content...key to making port wine. It’s quite an intricate, back breaking process and interesting to learn about.
The entire region is very beautiful. The Douro river runs through the valley, with endless rows of vines, bordered by olive trees...very green and lush from all the winter rain.
Our first stop on our tour was an hour boat cruise along the Douro river where we soaked in the warm sun, breeze on our face and beautiful views.
Once we got our fill of river cruising…I could have stayed here all day in my happy place…we headed to a large vineyard for our first wine tasting.
Quinta de São Luis grows grapes for KOPFE...the oldest port wine house established in 1638….I’m thinking they know what they are doing. When we arrived, we did a little tour, learned about their growing process and took in more beautiful views along the river.
From here we headed to a second much smaller vineyard called Quinta de Santa Julia. It is a family owned vineyard, like many in Portugal that have been handed down through generations. When we arrived at this quaint location we started off by having our lunch, along with...you guessed it...unlimited wine!
After filling our bellies we headed into the wine tasting room...this was by far my favourite spot. Very rustic feeling as we sat in a long line of tables next to large vats of wine…you could do some damage in here if you had a spout!
This vineyard also makes their own olive oil, so we had a bit of a taste...delicious! This is the first location where we had wine, not port, and it was a nice change from all the sweetness.
When we finished our tasting, we were toured around the property, through the many flower gardens and learned a bit more about their grapes and growing process. They do everything manually here, so they only produce for local consumption with 75,000 litres of wine a year.
At this point, we headed back to Porto on the 2 hour drive...and as much as I tried, I just couldn’t stay awake. Jet leg might be finally setting in, or maybe it’s the wine! We arrived back in Porto after 11 hours together…right in the heart of rush hour traffic…and full of knowledge and wine. I was ready for a chill evening at my apartment before heading back to Lisbon in the morning, so I skipped the final glass of wine downtown.
Porto and the Douro Valley were definitely a treat and a great way to start my adventures in Portugal. Looking forward to seeing what Lisbon has in store for me over the next few days.
Until then...share in the adventure.
Lisa