Food Tours · Tour

Two Quintas, Six Wines and Fifty Minutes on a Rabelo

Ten hours, leaving from Calçada de Vandoma beside Porto Cathedral, where the staff wear red. The drive inland covers Portuguese history on the way, with a coffee stop halfway. The Douro was demarcated in 1756, which makes it the oldest protected wine region anywhere, and UNESCO listed the valley in 2001. The terraces are the reason: schist cut into steps by hand over three centuries, on slopes too steep for machinery, which is why so much of the work there is still done by people. The first estate is at Sabrosa, and the visit runs from the vines through the production to a tasting before lunch. Lunch itself is a full traditional Portuguese meal, starter, main and dessert, poured with Douro red or white rather than port. Afterwards the road climbs to a viewpoint over the valley for the photograph everyone stops for. At Pinhão you board a rabelo for fifty minutes on the river. These flat-bottomed boats carried the barrels down to Vila Nova de Gaia before the dams and the roads, and the ones on the water now are the same shape doing a gentler job. The second estate is at Folgosa, where a winery guide walks the property and explains the route from vineyard to bottle, finishing with three more wines. Between the stops the coach uses the N222 along the south bank, which has been called the most beautiful road in the world often enough that Portugal has stopped arguing. Six tastings in total across the two estates, including port. Lunch is included, with vegetarian and gluten-free versions if you ask in advance. Groups run up to twenty-seven. Guided in Portuguese, English, French or Spanish, usually one language per departure. Booking also includes a free Porto walking tour on any following day. The day ends at Rua de Alexandre Herculano near Praça da Batalha. Ten hours is approximate and traffic decides the rest, so leave the evening clear. The cruise runs at the operator's discretion and can be swapped for another activity in bad weather.