Wines of Oporto & The Douro Valley

Itinerary

• Day 1 - Fly to Oporto

  This morning we will fly to Oporto, where we will be met by our private transfer for the short journey to the magnificent 5* Hotel Yeatman. Owned by the Taylor’s port dynasty, this is the finest hotel in town, and offers fabulous views over the rooftops of the city and the River Douro below. Jonathan Ray will host an introductory tasting this evening to showcase the extraordinary diversity of wines produced in this part of Portugal, followed by dinner in the hotel’s acclaimed restaurant

• Day 2 - Taylor's Port House & the World of Wine

  This morning we will begin next door at Taylor’s Port House, one of the oldest of the traditional family-owned port houses which still dominate the trade in Port wine. During the visit we will see the fermentation room and the impressive rows of aging casks in the barrel room, followed by a tasting and lunch in the restaurant Barrao Fladgate which has spectacular vistas of the city across the river. This afternoon we will continue to the newly opened World of Wine museum, which explains more about the history and science of viticulture in the Douro Valley. You will be free to enjoy an independent dinner in Oporto this evening.

• Day 3 - Oporto & train to Pinhao

  We will begin this morning with a tour through the winding streets of Oporto exploring the myriad shops, restaurants, cafés and local antique markets in the company of an expert local guide. On the Rua Infante Dom Henrique, named for Henry the Navigator, we find a collection of buildings which recall the British influence in the city. Chief among them is the Factory House, a grand 18th century mansion which served as the meeting place for British wine traders and retains a cellar of 15,000 bottles. After an independent lunch we will board the train for the two-hour scenic journey upstream to Pinhão. As we follow the river we will enjoy wonderful scenery with soaring river banks and cliffs, and terraced vineyards etching their sides. On arrival in Pinhão, we will disembark and check in to the 4* Vintage House Hotel, where we stay for the next two nights. Dinner is served at the hotel’s excellent restaurant this evening including a selection of carefully-chosen local wines.

• Day 4 - Vineyards

  Today will be devoted to exploring the vineyards, starting with a tour of the Quinta do Bomfim with lunch at this elegant winery just outside Pinhão. Acquired by George Warre for Dow’s in 1896, Quinta do Bomfim is ideally located with south-facing schist slopes arranged in vineyard terraces which have yielded Dow’s memorable Vintage Ports for over a century. All the grapes harvested at the property are taken to the small on-site winery where they are trodden in modern lagares, in the traditional method developed over hundreds of years. In the afternoon we will continue to Quinta dos Malvedos, the cornerstone of Graham’s Vintage Ports since 1890. Here we will see the traditional terraced vineyards built with dry-stone walls by hand in the 18th century. We enjoy a tasting with the winemaker before returning to Pinhão for dinner this evening.

• Day 5 - The tour ends

  We will be met at the hotel this morning for a transfer back to Oporto airport and a flight back to London