Where to go for a sophisticated sampling of Port wine in Porto?

[barberinibee]

Hi,

I have a few days in Porto, Portugal, and I know nothing about Port wine. Mainstream guidebooks have no end of listings for tours and places to taste and buy Port wine from the huge vendors, but I'd like to be able to zero on what is really worthwhile to sample.

Can anybody offer guidance?

[Pata_Negra]

i tried 7 port wine lodges (within 10 days). where i had the best port sampling was also the most expensive and the tour of the cellar was the shortest! it was at Churchill's. their vintages are stunning.

apparently there are about 16 lodges in the neighbourhood. i shall check out the rest on future trips. was in Pinhao the day before but didn't check out any port producers there.

[barberinibee]

Pata_Negra,

Thanks for posting. I was sorry that the tasting center for port near the Cristal Palacio in central Porto was closed on Sunday, when it was my only chance to go. Did you go? Whizzing past in a taxi, the setting looked enchanting.

[zin1953]

Churchill's is awesome!

[dinwiddie]

If I might suggest the Port Wine Institute in Porto.

Rua Ferreira Borges, 27
4050-253 - Porto - Portugal
Tel: [phone]

I went to the one in Lisbon and had a wonderful time tasting lots of different ports. If you don't have lots of time, this might be just the place. If nothing else, it can give you some ideas of where to go visit.

[barberinibee]

Is that the same as the Solar do Vinho do Porto -- which I believe has a different address?

I am now in Northern Spain, and will not have a chance to slip back into Porto proper before flying out of Porto airport.

But were I advising friends on visiting Porto, I will probably tell them to skip crossing the river to Vila Nova if they have limited time and only a minor interest in learning about Port wine. While the views of Porto are nice from Vila Nova, it seems a pity to take time from all the fascinations of Porto itself to cross the river and put up with the inane tourist scene that dominates so much of the riverside of Vila Nova.

[zin1953]

Again, it's only an "inane tourist scene" if you let it. I've been in Gaia multiple times and NEVER had that experience.

[barberinibee]

Sorry, can't think of another word but inane to describe what's going on at the riverfront.

I enjoyed my aerobic hike up to the terrace of Yeatman, and had it been earlier in the day, I *might* have invested some time in visiting the tasting rooms of several Port producers in the hills above the riverfront. The old warehouses are imposing.

But it is pretty obvious to me that there is a one-inch deep circus of Disneyland tourism servicing the cruise ship trade along the low riverfront in Gaia, with buskers and funny-hat-and-tat sellers + a Disney-esque cable car ride for views. To put the burden on visitors to ignore it is asking too much in my book. When I travel, I like to keep my eyes open, not shut.

[zin1953]

I guess we approach things differently.

a) Most of the Port lodges I'm interested in visiting in Gaia and NOT on the waterfront, but rather "up the hill."

b) With minimal advance planning, you can set up appointments for private tours and tastings, "far from the madding crowds" . . . .

[barberinibee]

I'm sure we approach things differently. I live in Italy and have never once toured a winery, and it was low on my list of things to do in Porto. I think a discussion like this helpful to other travelers -- although on the wine board it might be an oddity (whereas on the Spain/Portugal board it wouldn't). I just thought I'd ask some wine experts for their take on Porto. Had my itinerary allowed for two or three more days there, I might have taken a tour of the serious port wine producers "up the hill" -- but I am certain I would have gone to Solar do Vinho (just because I would have certainly gone to the Museu Romantico).

Anyway, now I am in Galicia, where the wine is wonderful and there are no madding crowds, despite the beautiful sunny weather.

[kagemusha49]

The huge vendors are the place to go. Places like Graham or Quinto do Noval. Trust the guidebooks.

[barberinibee]

Having just come back from Vila Nova de Gaia, I'm afraid I can't endorse the theory of trust the guidebooks -- especially since they have thus far been so abysmally bad about Portugal and Porto in general, and one of them gave precisely the contradictory advice you gave regarding port wine sampling (go to the small vendors, it advised).

The tourist scene at the riverfront of Vila Nova de Gaia is so off-putting, I simply turned my heel on it and hiked right up the steep hills to the cool terrace of The Yeatman, where I sipped a delicious white port cocktail at a comfortable table with a fab view, far above the tour bus crowds. The cocktail itself was a revelation, so I feel better educated. I'm next heading to towns in the Douro that also are port wine producers, so maybe I'll learn more there.

[zin1953]

I'm confused . . . you said in your OP that you "have a few days IN Porto" (emphasis added), but in your post above you say you've just returned from Vila Nova de Gaia (aka "Gaia") -- so are you back home, or heading up to the Douro?

FWIW, I just returned from the Douro and Porto/Gaia in May.

While it is true that the waterfront scene can be a zoo, I've been fortunate in that I've never had to deal with that. I can understand, however, that it can be both frustrating and disappointing. It's a classic case of "The 6P Principle."

Presuming that I understand you correctly, and that you now heading up to the Douro, how are you doing this? There are three primary ways -- car, train, and boat. Are you renting a car and driving up? The train is the most beautiful, but it's very difficult to get around and visit the various quintas without a car. Then again, many of the roads are extremely windy and narrow (think one-land-and-a-half total, rather than one lane in each direction). Nonetheless, driving is really the only way to get around if you want to visit anything outside of Pinhão . . .

While some of the LARGER quintas do have staff for tastings and are open to the public on a "drop-in" basis (think California), most are not and require appointments in advance.

You can stop in at Quinta de Panascal (Fonseca) with no appointment, have a self-guided tour (with audio accompaniment -- think of those listening devices in museums as you view the artwork), and then a tasting. Older wines are available at an extra charge.

Quinta de la Rosa is also open, but they have one tour per day at 11:00 am. At other times, you can drop in to taste, but I'm not sure what's available. (In May, they were undergoing major renovation and we didn't stop.)

Quinta do Tedo is another place that is open for casual visits and tastings. There is a museum located within the train station at Pinhão that also has tastings (I believe), and some other places (R.C.V., for example, outside of Pinhão).

MOST places, however, are either NOT open to the public at all, or not open without a previously scheduled appointment in advance. Most are small, family-run "farms" which -- right now -- are harvesting and/or making wine, and are too small to have full-time staff for visitors.

Have you made any appointments? Do you have any contacts in the wine trade?

Jason