Sorry the blog took a little break here, we were away for the weekend in Sardinia! Stay tuned for the post on our trip there! Upon leaving Porto, we headed west to the Douro valley, which is the oldest recognised wine region in the world, with documentation regulating the production of wine here since the 1700's (note that doesn't mean its the oldest wine region in the world as they have been making wine since early Greek times (or even earlier). As you get more towards the heart of the valley, the terrain starts looking like it does below, with countless levels of vineyards on each bank of the Douro river.
Our first stop was Quinta de Cotto (
http://www.quintadocotto.pt/), a beautiful area that produces Douro reds and whites. One of the wine makers gave us a tour of the property (Rosa), who was very friendly and had a wealth of knowledge about the process. She took us around the property (the manor house behind is where guests can stay and is beautiful), into the wine making area where they were labeling bottles for a nearby vineyard, and on to the stainless steel tanks and oak barrels (Portuguese oak) that the wine ages in.
We moved on and grabbed lunch at a little local spot in Regua, one of the main towns in the region. When we walked by the owner asked us to come in and eat; we replied that we'd love to eat, but we don't speak Portuguese if its okay; he poked his head in the restaurant where a bunch of locals were eating and said something like "they don't speak Portuguese, they speak English, should we let them in?" The place roared with laughter and we ended up having a great lunch!
Following lunch the view became even more spectacular and with the river snaking through the hills and the vineyards more pronounced. Our second stop was Quinta do Pacheca (
http://www.wonderfulland.com/pacheca/), a beautiful Quinta with an amazing cellar. The tour guide was really nice and friendly and let us try as much wine and port as our hearts desired (too much). The Quinta was beautiful and the owner was there and she made a point to come introduce herself to us. The wine maker was in the process of bottling the most recent vintage as you can see from the pic below.
We also were shown the area where the Quinta still crushes its grapes by foot on an annual basis. While the bigger Quinta's and port houses have reverted to machines, these guys still have the annual crush where families, neighbors, and tourists participate in the crush.
Following the second tour, we continued down the river to the town on Pinhao to Quinta de la Rosa (
http://www.quintadelarosa.com/), where we had our last tour of the day! The wine and port here was amazing and we got a couple bottles that made it all the way home without breaking!
We yet again had a great tour guide and especially liked the old barrel room with its crooked beams and musty smell. It was an absolute fantastic day of wine tasting, definitely the best we've ever had!
On the way to our casa we stopped for some pics!
After only one (long) wrong turn, we made it to Casa Cimeira (
http://www.casacimeira-douro.com/), where Paulo and his parents charm their guests! When we arrived they led us to their cool bar to try their homemade port (1999 vintage) and snack on some goodies. Let's just say Erin and I should've sat this one out and taken a break before dinner....but you know what they say, "When in the Douro!" Our aperitif was followed by an extraordinary dinner family-style on their big dining room table (with homemade wine) that was delicious! Dinner was followed by going to the patio and drinking some of the casa's 70 year-old port...definitely the oldest I have had and it was great! Before leaving the following morning Paulo sent us a parting gift of a bottle of small barrel aged port that had almost no red due to the amount of contact with the barrel. Hopefully Lissa and Jeremy haven't drank it all yet!
After leaving the Douro (sadly), we stopped at Conombriga, an old Roman town that has perhaps the best preserved Roman mosaics outside of Rome. We toured around the amazing ruins, picturing how life was back then!
Following lunch the view became even more spectacular and with the river snaking through the hills and the vineyards more pronounced. Our second stop was Quinta do Pacheca (http://www.wonderfulland.com/pacheca/), a beautiful Quinta with an amazing cellar. The tour guide was really nice and friendly and let us try as much wine and port as our hearts desired (too much). The Quinta was beautiful and the owner was there and she made a point to come introduce herself to us. The wine maker was in the process of bottling the most recent vintage as you can see from the pic below. 
We also were shown the area where the Quinta still crushes its grapes by foot on an annual basis. While the bigger Quinta's and port houses have reverted to machines, these guys still have the annual crush where families, neighbors, and tourists participate in the crush.
Following the second tour, we continued down the river to the town on Pinhao to Quinta de la Rosa (http://www.quintadelarosa.com/), where we had our last tour of the day! The wine and port here was amazing and we got a couple bottles that made it all the way home without breaking!
We yet again had a great tour guide and especially liked the old barrel room with its crooked beams and musty smell. It was an absolute fantastic day of wine tasting, definitely the best we've ever had!
On the way to our casa we stopped for some pics!
After only one (long) wrong turn, we made it to Casa Cimeira (http://www.casacimeira-douro.com/), where Paulo and his parents charm their guests! When we arrived they led us to their cool bar to try their homemade port (1999 vintage) and snack on some goodies. Let's just say Erin and I should've sat this one out and taken a break before dinner....but you know what they say, "When in the Douro!" Our aperitif was followed by an extraordinary dinner family-style on their big dining room table (with homemade wine) that was delicious! Dinner was followed by going to the patio and drinking some of the casa's 70 year-old port...definitely the oldest I have had and it was great! Before leaving the following morning Paulo sent us a parting gift of a bottle of small barrel aged port that had almost no red due to the amount of contact with the barrel. Hopefully Lissa and Jeremy haven't drank it all yet!
We then made it to Obidos, a walled village about 45 minutes north of Lisbon. It was one of the most impressive villages we have ever seen. The medieval walls still completely intact and the white-washed village as beautiful as one could imagine. We walked around the walls, then around the village itself before making it to Lisbon.
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