Douro Valley tasting: Senhora Do Convento

About a 30-minute ride from the town of Pinhao on very windy roads, this exquisite 45-hectare estate was recently purchased by Patrick Landanger (owner of Domaine de La Pousse d’Or in Burgundy.) He has built a spectacular state of the art new winery that he will use for the first time with the 2008 harvest….

Douro Valley Tastings: Quinta do Infantado

  Upper valley After a bumpy ride down to this discretely located Quinta, we were received by Oenologist Fatima Riba and owner/winemaker Joao Roseira at Quinta do Infantado. The cellar was built in 1816, and is stillin-tact. Despite the relatively large size (46ha), this Quinta is still family run. Getting that human dimension was comforting…

Douro Valley Tastings: Sandeman Quinta do Seixo

The most impressive thing about a visit to Sandeman’s Quinta do Seixo estate is the drive up to a culminating point above the Douro with practically a 360° view of terraced vines! The drive is not for the faint hearted (or those who tend to get car sick!), but it is absolutely spectacular! The visit…

Niepoort’s superb dry Douro red “Charme” 2005 at Restaurant DOC

  We asked for the wine to be chilled a little, and it was re-served at 15°. The aromas became even more Burgundian and more explosive. Less cherries and more raspberries like from Vosne Romanée tasted from barrel at its most delicious moment. It certainly tastes like a wine with ample amounts of new wood,…

Douro Valley Tastings: Quinta do Portal

 Douro River Valley After taking the train from Porto (Sao Bento station) and riding for most of the journey along the banks of the Douro to the town of Pinhao, we were greeted by some friends who know the Douro Valley well and had arranged several cellar visits for us. Our first stop was  Quinta…

Portuguese cuisine: a little disappointing but has potential…

Accras de Morue (deep fat-fried: salt cod-fish dumplings)   I realize that I cannot judge a country’s cuisine after only 4 days and only visiting one region, but I must say I was disappointed with the Portuguese cuisine.  I may not have been to the finest establishments in the country, but visited a variety of…