 |
| The Beautiful Douro Valley. If we hadn't gotten lost, we wouldn't have gotten this picture. |
Like staying in Florence and failing to visit Tuscany, is Porto without a trip to the Douro Valley. We had to go - so we did. [The pictures don't go with the text...don't get confused]
 |
| The Villa at Quinta do Panascal |
The landscape is completely idyllic with river snaking through the lush and terraced hillsides betokening future liquid wonder. Unfortunately a picture just doesn't capture its beauty.
 |
| Grape varietals stationed in a row. Steph tried a couple and Micah protested. |
As romantic as a riverboat cruise up the Douro River sounded, it's a four hour jaunt, oneway - and we only had a day to invest. Hertz rental car to the rescue - good thing we know how to drive a manual.
 |
| If you don't know what this is I question your sanity. |
Two hours of invigorating, European driving saw us...lost - go figure. "Rick Steves' map show this will connect back down to the river..." Okay, but ol' Ricky likes to omit names of roads that are not central to the area. Irony is, you inadvertently wander off the beaten path the guide book becomes nearly obsolete. We turned around and retraced our steps.
It quickly became apparent why America is viewed as "bigger," the place where "bigger is better," and the place to "go big or go home." Cuz cars here are small, and the roads narrow. And in the winding mountain roads of Portugal's Douro Valley they are even narrower. Crossing a bridge, tour bus approaching from the opposite direction, I hugged that curb and nearly shut my eyes, wincing at the close-call.
 |
| Quinta do Panascal large wine vats for aging rubies |
Redemption came in the form of more fine ports (who knew??)
 |
| Testing the Branco Port. We bought the one in the middle, however. The Ruby. |
The Douro Valley - the birthplace of port wine - with "otherworldly, ever-changing terrain sculptured by centuries of hardy farmers. The Douro River's steep, craggy, twisting canyons have ben laboriously terraced to make a horizontal home for grape vines and olive and almond trees...The Douro River begins as a trickle in Spain, runs west for 550 miles and spills into the Atlantic at Porto."*
Getting lost and having four hours of driving on our plate, combined with the fact that Hertz closed at 19:00 - we could only squeeze in two Quinta tours.
Quinta do Panascal, Fonseca Guimaraens: Perfecto. Wandering amongst the closely knit grapevines on the steeply terraced hill with the beating sun and listening to British commentary. Three port tasting with purchase of Bin no. 27 - the most complex ruby we've ever laid lips to.
 |
| Here they still tread by foot the grapes used for Port. Images of I love Lucy come to mind |
Quinta de la Rosa: Small, quaint and family run. Got there just in time for their spontaneous English tour. Four free tastings brought us to a 2008 Late Bottled Vintage. We would have been remiss to walk away from Portugal without some kind of vintage Port, and we were never allowed a taste of a true vintage (prohibitively expensive to buy and never included in tours) so we settled for a delicious LBV. I know. Poor us.
 |
| French oak wine barrels at Quinta de la Rosa |
 |
| Our LBV from Quinta de la Rosa |
Yes, "oh, poor you!" Christin and I also had a bit of trouble with a R. Steves guidebook cuz they are published the year before release and things often change before you get there, but the roads? Those don't change. You're brave to rent a car and drive, although when we did that we had a good experiece (till we got into Madrid with the traffic and one way streets!)Can't wait to see your post from Bilbo!! LOVE ya both!!
ReplyDelete