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F
or many drinkers, Santa Claus and
Port have something in common -
they only appear at Christmas. While
it's hard to imagine Santa in many
guises and employed all year round,
Port is the gift that keeps on giving.
To get a real sense of its diversity, head to
its homeland in Portugal.
Start your trip o in Porto, a small city
that stretches up a steep hillside
from the mouth of the Douro
river. Ancient churches, shopping
streets and lots of little squares
make for pleasant ambling, while
on the opposite bank, Vila Nova
de Gaia is home to dozens of Port
lodges - the ageing warehouses
where Port rests in humid cellars before
being shipped around the world.
The lodges all have dierent personalities
and it's worth visiting more than one. From
Ramos Pinto's original o ces with ancient
typewriters and saucy old adverts to
Graham's cool pintxos bar, there's a Port for
every storm. Plot your next move with a white
Port and tonic and dig in to snacks on sticks.
For a more formal dinner, the restaurant
at The Yeatman hotel holds a Michelin star
and amuse-bouches come in test tubes
(sardine cocktail) or as lollipops (foie gras and
white chocolate). The restaurant's Wine Book
features more than 1,200 wines and considers
itself to be one of the most comprehensive
Portuguese wine lists in the world. Up the
road, Vinum prides itself on its meat, and you
can watch through a picture window into
the kitchen as chefs turn hunks of beef.
Down the Douro
After a day or two in the city, get back to
nature. The Douro Valley is a UNESCO World
Heritage site, not just for its outstanding
beauty but for the centuries of work put in by
man to shape the terraces from hard schist in
order to make the landscape workable. This
landscape - along with the Port lodges in
Porto - makes Port and Douro wines part
of the Discover the Origin campaign, which
champions products with provenance and
specic production methods.
Miles of terraces wrap neatly around the
hills to provide platforms for farming grapes
and all manner of other produce, including
olives. Port, reds, whites and rosés
are all made here, and a great many
wine and Port quintas (farms) are
open to the public. From huge
visitor centres to organic producers
and small operations, you can
hike, cycle, drive, sail, or take the
train to discover the Douro.
Head for the small town of Pinhão, about
two hours by car or train from Porto and a
great base for river trips, hikes and quinta
visits. From Pinhão, you can walk to Quinta
de la Rosa, but take a taxi if you have luggage
- there are hills aplenty. There's a daily 'just
turn up' tour of the quinta at 11am, complete
with a tasting of two wines and three Ports
for €3. Stay here (there's a selection of
From full-bodied reds to crisp whites, old tawnies and even Port cocktails,
the wines and Ports of the Douro Valley are worth exploring
WORDS LUCY BRITNER
voyage of discovery MAIN PORT PHOTO: ROB LAWSON
MILES OF TERRACES WRAP NEATLY
AROUND THE HILLS TO PROVIDE
PLATFORMS FOR FARMING GRAPES