Douro Valley

The bus took us on narrow, winding roads to the town of Pinhão on the Douro River. We got on board a wooden boat that was supposed to be reminiscent of the boats from 200 years ago that transported barrels of port wine from the "quintas" (wineries) of the Douro Valley down to Porto.

From Porto, the wine was shipped primarily to England, where it became particularly popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. Even though the city of Porto gave the wine its name because it was the shipping hub, only vineyards in this valley are allowed to make wine with the name. So no port actually comes from Porto. It's only shipped from there.

The steep hills of this valley have been terraced since Roman times for the cultivation of grapes and olives. Since the harvest is now over, things are quiet in the valley. Had we been here a month earlier we might have seen scores of migrant workers and lots of truck traffic. There are hundreds of quintas in this valley!

Once done with the boat ride we were driven back toward Lamego where we visited a quinta: "Quinta da Portela de Baixo." Here we were to have a tour, a tasting, and a light lunch. But the food kept coming and the tasting was full glasses of at least a half dozen different types of port. When we finished we were quite full and a bit tipsy.

Port is made from a variety of grapes. The distinctive process is that, when the grapes are crushed, some of the solids remaining are distilled into a potent grape spirit. At a very precise point in the fermentation process of the wine, a specific measure of the spirit is added back to it. This boosts the alcohol content of the wine to around twenty percent, halting the fermentation process as the wine is aging.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon sitting beside (but not in) the hotel pool, reading our books. This gave us time to sober up before dinner. Of course, wine was served with the meal.