Port Wine Lodges

Editor's note: We have fallen behind on the posts. We planned on decreasing them for mutual benefit when we got to Barcelona, but wanted to keep up to date on the 5 year Anniversary trip! Failing in that, I'll be brief in updating about the rest with a couple short posts that will likely get lost. But oh well, here they are for posterity's sake.

Lello & Irmao Bookstore in Porto. Absolutely gorgeous. No photos allowed.

In the Majestic, an excellent Art Nouveau cafe built in the 1920's

Across from Porto, picturesque crumbling buildings and forgotten church

The first full day we were in Porto we went to one Port Wine Lodge with a tour that we failed to capture on film and one other tasting. We talked about that briefly. The final day we were in Porto, along with seeing the random things we had previously missed because of the Sunday abyss, we visited the cellars of Ferreira and were not disappointed.

Old advertisement for Ferreira

Much of the information we had heard before: Tawny's are in small barrels for longer time, Rubys are in big barrels to maintain the luscious flavor of the grape, Vintages are for only very special years that the 'gods' at the Port Wine Institute deign to acknowledge, etc.
 

Vintage cellar of Ferreira

The BEST Port we tried: 10 Year White Port. No one else (as far as they know, and as far as any of the port wine sellers in Porto know) is making a White Port that ages for so long in barrels. The color is like a very well aged tawny and the taste is...ambrosia. Unfortunately, unless you come and visit us in Barcelona, or take a foray into Porto, you will not be able to taste it. They barely export it to Lisbon let alone the states. Salivate away.

Boats once used to cart the juice of foot-pressed grapes down the river to the lodges where it would grow up to become Port