Portugal, oh Portugal!
Still not quite recognized for it's fine wines, the Portugese deserve much more and are slowly getting there. Focusing on the north, my interests are all crammed into one huge stretch of river, from the Atlantic all the way across northern Portugal into Spain. What happens here in between is quite remarkable. Winery after another, vineyards filling the hills, all planted horizontally, making the surroundings look like massive green steps by the river, only to be disturbed by the occasional olive trees - The Douro Valley. Filled with narrow roads, lots of hills to climb, a great rural atmosphere and breathtaking views.
You must be thinking Portugal - Porto - Port Wine. Yes, there are hundereds of Quintas (wineries) devoted to the art of making Port, but I will not go into that now, I'll save my love for Port to another post. This is about the area and it's lovely reds, yes, epic lovely reds.
One might arrive to the valley by train, from Campanhã Station in Porto it takes approximately two and a half hours to a quite central town in the valley; Peso De Regua. From here a car is extremely important and one can be rented in town. Few minutes from town, northside of the river you will find Quinta Do Vallado - a stunning winery, expanded hotel and renovated facilities certainly give a convincing look for a quality winery. What they produce varies from Port to White and Reds, my favourites by far being the reds.
I love the fact that the vineyards are full of grape varieties from that area. You can instantly see that there is a lot of knowledge about the varieties, since they have dealt with them for hundreds of years. To just take, say Shiraz and plant it in Douro would be somewhat blasphemy, instead you get rich flavours from "locals", such as Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca and Sousão. Not like Shiraz doesn't have any history - My point is that they have sticked to their own, not borrowed from abroad and it gives you a certain level of genetics and knowledge that can't be found everywhere.
The two reds I would like to mention from Vallado are the Touriga Nacional and Sousão. There is a nice depth in the small yielding Touriga Nacional, tough spirit, great body and superb amount of tannins for a youngster like this, making it a perfect companion for meaty dishes kept slightly on the medium side. And hell, this is QUALITY. No fooling around here, seriously a end product full of potential. The other favourite of mine is the Sousão. It certainly shows even more character, leaving you guessing for a while what the hell it is trying to be, in a good way! Like a disorted punk rock song to an elderly lady in the eighties, who later becomes an anarchist. It's that "Boom!" feeling first, followed by analysis. Quite rarely used as a single variety, yet rarely blended for Port, hints of raisin, darker berries and a well balanced spicyness. Vallado sure nailed it.
The variosity of wineries in the Douro Valley is amazing. You get big powerhouses with well known international brands to the smaller contract farmers producing grapes to whoever wants to buy them. Obviously everything in between too - Like the cozy Quinta Do Tedo. Situated by the road from Peso De Regua to Pinhão, this rather small Quinta has much character to offer - Nice light summery Rosé Port and a good basic red that really convinced me. I would definately recommend to stop by.
Wineries might seem close to each other, but the ever twisting mountain roads keep things rather sparce and the many times you simply want to stop to enjoy the views - all eat into your schedule. Remember to plan timetables with a local, or at least ask how long does it take to get somewhere, not just relying on a map. The climb from Pinhão to the Portal Winery is recommended, as is the road from Pinhão to Crasto Winery. The sense of adventure, thats what is missing from many wine producing areas these days - In the Douro Valley it is present, unique and honest.
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