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"Travels in Portugal"
When you’re a tour guide scouting a new region, some days are better than others. This one was particularly memorable.
Take the 9:15 train up the Duoro River, from Porto to Regua – a famously beautiful passage. After an hour of farmland, the train travels in lockstep with the broad, winding Douro. [...]
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Budget travelers, take note: In Portugal, you can eat well and abundantly on the cheap.
During our scouting trip this week, we enjoyed many fine, fancy dinners, trying out spots where we’ll take our clients during our Passion for Port tour on September 6-11. But since this was a scouting [...]
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“Today you can see where the Douro gets its name,” says Jorge Alves, winemaker at Quinta do Tedo. “It means river of gold.” Today the water is cappuccino-colored and runs high and fast from weeks of rain.
Our vantage point overlooks the confluence of two rivers: the Douro [...]
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The newly constructed modernist cellar at Quinta de Napoles is one of the most visible signs of the revolution underway in the upper Douro. It’s an apt architectural metaphor: The winery at once blends in with its surroundings—its schist facades and long horizontal lines mimic the terraced vineyards [...]
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What a difference a mountain makes.
At the port lodges, the guides recite facts about the Douro’s unique climate: how the mountains act as a buffer between Porto on the sea and the vineyards 65 miles inland. Serra do Marão and Serra de Alvão are two hulking mountains that shelter the vines from [...]
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It takes awhile for Porto’s styles to sink in: ruby, tawny, late-bottled, colheito, crusted, vintage. (Who’s ever heard of crusted port?) The fix is easy, though: Visit more wineries, taste more Port, absorb more information, and gradually assemble the jigsaw.
The most useful tidbit is offered by our host at Vasconcellos, one of [...]
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Began our Oporto scouting trip with blue skies and crammed appointment book: Graham’s, Niepoort, Quinta de la Rosa, Quinta do Tedo, Quinta do Passadouro, Quinta Vale D. Maria, and Quinta Vallado.
Europe is frozen in [...]
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