Fine Wine

Porto in Portugal is famous for .... Wait for it .... Port. What you may not know is that nearly all of the Port Houses were started by the English during the 18th century. They added brandy the the portuguese wine to stop it from going off during shipping. This also stops fermentation making the wine stronger and sweeter.

The best place to try port (apart from Porto) is in the Douro Valley where the grapes are grown. The fermentation and storage is done in Porto because of the climate. Douro is good for growing as it is protected on all sides by hills from too much rain, wind etc, creating a microclimate perfect for grape growing.






We set off by train and jumped on a tour bus. We were the only people on the bus the the driver could not speak a word of English. What could possibly go wrong? For a change, nothing. The tour took us through some of the more scenic spots in the valley before stopping for more port tasting. There was not much else to do in Pinhao, so we headed back to Porto early for dinner, this time on the banks of the Douro river in the centre of Porto. Pretty cool.




Thought for the day. Just because you can smoke a cigar after dinner, it doesn't mean you should.

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Location:Pinhao