Douro Valley

We have spent the last few days in the Douro Valley - Portugal's wine country.  The vineyards line the hillsides bordering the Douro River making for some very dramatic landscape and the area was listed as World Heritage Site in 2001.  One of its main products, Port Wine, has been made famous around the world.    

Similar to the Alentejo region we visited a few weeks back, the wineries here require advanced notice and we had to reserve tours and tastings before we arrived.  Driving through the region really looked and felt like fall for the first time since arriving in Portugal.  The leaves on the trees and grape vines were red and gold. 

The first winery we went to was Quinta do Seixo.  The winery is part of the Sandeman Brand which was founded in 1790 by George Sandeman and was the first port house to use its family name to brand its products.  We did a short tour of the cellars and our guide educated us about Port Wines and we got to try three of their Ports - a white Port, Ruby Port and Tawny Port.  I never really thought I liked Port Wine (too sweet), but these were actually very good!  

We also visited Quinta do Pôpa, one of the few wineries here which does not produce Port Wine.  The winery was purchased by Zeca Ferreira in 2003 to honor his own father, Francisco Ferreira, nicknamed Pôpa.  The view from the winery is beautiful and even though we have been here for a few days, it never gets old!  The tour was interesting and the wines delicious.  We sampled one rose, one white, three reds and one sweet red (don't worry, they were small pours!).    

While in the Douro Valley, we ate lunch one afternoon at DOC, and it has been one of the most memorable meals we have had so far in Portugal.  We went with the 7-course Harvest Tasting Menu and it did not disappoint!