Wine tourism in the Douro: The best visits you cannot miss!

The Douro is the oldest demarcated region in the world and when we want to get to know better part of this rich history, the question naturally arises: where to start? So, here we leave you three of the main Douro estates where you can taste the best nectars, enjoy the scenery and relax.

 
Quinta da Avessada

We start at Quinta da Avessada, in Favaios, whose Enoteca stands out for constituting an interactive museum alluding to the history and culture of the vine and wine in the Alto Douro region.

With 160 years of history, Quinta da Avessada is located on the wine-growing plateau of Favaios, in the center of the demarcated area of ​​the Douro. At 600 meters of altitude and with 1000 hectares of planted area, this is the highest and flatest point in the region. Built mainly with native materials (wood and shale), the Quinta is part of the landscape. And when you arrive, you will also immediately feel integrated into this piece of history, as you are soon greeted with a Favaios muscat.

At Enoteca, you can make a visit that takes you through different times of the Douro vineyards always within the framework of the guide. Robots and mannequins help to show how the grape treads were made in the past. In the end, there will be tastings and you can still “lose” yourself in a typical Douro lunch at Quinta da Avessada.

Raposeira Cellars

Fruit of the persistence of several generations, the Raposeira Cellars have existed for 120 years and also have a lot to tell… The visit to the vineyards, the winery and the tastings, of course, will take you on a trip to the famous Champagne region, in France, where the personality of some of the most renowned Portuguese sparkling wines began to develop. Lamego took from the original Champagne grape varieties to find their raw material that, over time, became another brand image of the Douro region.

Quinta de Tourais

We closed this set of proposals at Quinta de Tourais, located in the Douro World Heritage Site, belonging to the same family for three generations. Until 1999, the grapes produced on the farm were sold in full to an exporting company for the production of Port wine. We leave you this number: 37 thousand feet of vineyard properly cared for and accompanied from the moment they are thrown to the ground until they give the grape, later transported with great care, until it becomes the much appreciated nectar of Tourais, in which even the image of the label counts, and a lot, to reach the customer's hand.

Here, the apprenticeships of traditional production is mixed with the most welcoming and modern ways of greeting. Something you will be able to prove when you decide to stay overnight at Quinta de Tourais, which, surrounded by vineyards, welcomes you to a historic monastery 200 meters from the Douro River. With a princely breakfast, the place has a large terrace for sunbathing on the approaching spring days. And it breathes history in every corner.

These are just some of the reasons that we hope will excite you to come and discover some of the best farms in an ancestral and unique region. If you can make the visit at harvest time, the experience in the Douro will be even more complete.