On the day we were collected from our air b&b apartment promptly at 9:15am as agreed. We were in a group of eight people in a small mini bus. The entire tour was conducted in English. We drove around one and a half hours to the Douro Valley with a coffee / toilet break around half way through as well as a couple of stops to admire the insanely amazing scenery.
The first vineyard we visited was Quinta do Tedo and it was beautiful. The views were amazing and the vineyard itself was rustic and cute. We had a group tour along with an explanation of how the wine is produced in the area. Afterwards we sat in the gorgeous tasting hall and had the opportunity to try either three wines or three ports each. I went for the wines and purchased a 2011 Grand Reserva for only 25 EUR, which was a bargain for how delicious the wine was and bearing in mind 2011 was a phenomenal year for the Douro Valley.
Next we drove through some more stunning countryside before reaching a restaurant above a fire station. Here lunch was served. There was red and white wine along with water and coffee afterwards. We had oodles of bread along with rice and a mixed salad. We then had the choice of bbq pork and veal with black beans or salted cod fish with mashed potato. Both dishes were plentiful and delicious. Desert was a pineapple cake or chocolate mousse. By the end of lunch we were all satisfyingly full and a little tipsy and the group hadn't even demolished all of the offerings.
From here we drove to another gorgeous winery, which was a little more modern than the first. D'Origem produces wine and olive oil. We started with a history lesson in the making of olive oil before trying a white, a rose and a red wine along with a couple of olive oils. I purchased another 2011 Grand Reserva for 14 EUR from this vineyard.
Our final stop was a traditional Port house where we tried three different Ports. Again, the views were mind blowing and the Port was absolutely delicious. We sat around barrels to taste the offerings. I should add that all three vineyards and the restaurant for lunch had clean toilets so you weren't left desperate after all of the wine!
It was sadly time to end our gorgeous day in this stunning part of the world with another ninety minute drive back to the city. We were dropped back at our accommodation around 7pm. This was a long day but incredibly relaxing and easy on the eye and the taste buds! The whole group had an amazing time and would thoroughly recommend this excursion as something a little different to do when visiting Porto. The tour was 95 EUR per person but this included all nine wine tastings, two olive oil tastings, transport, tours around the vineyards and lunch including wine and coffee so I think this was pretty good value for a ten hour luxurious day.
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