Vindima 2016 Thursday 6th October

Here we are at the airport in Porto with more than an hour to go before check in even opens. I best take advantage of the free wifi and get up to date.

Last Saturday we had a quiet meal with just the two of us. We were expecting left over feijoada from the wine tasters' lunch but they must have eaten it all as were

given pork steaks with mushrooms. It was delicious and all washed down with a choice of wines left over from the tasting. Dot pigged out on a huge bowl of crême brulée while I attached the most delicious cheese board accompanied by a selection of ports. We finished our meal in time to visit the lagars to find out that the grapes had come in later than expected. The treaders were very dilligent in working on to make sure the new grapes were properly crushed before singing the liberdade. I was impressed by their unenforced discipline.

 On Sunday we had a leisurely breakfast before Dywatt, José's son, and his

girlfriend gave us a lift down to Pinhão with our suitcases. Manuel was busy but it wasn't long before we were fixed up with a taxi to take us to Quinto do Tedo, where we planned to undertake their vineyard trail walk. We were pressed to drink a little rosé port before we set off, such a hardship! It really is a delightful if challenging walk. The previous year when we had done the walk it was fearfully hot, but, as it was cooler this time we managed to make it to the two marker stones that were set up just outside the quinta during the Marques do Pombal's demarcation. One of the stones had a very clear inscription due to its sheltered position from which it was clear that it had been raised in 1761.

After completing the walk we had our usual robust tasting of the quinta's superb ports and placed our order for shipping home. Following a smooth taxi ride into Peso da Regua we were soon installing ourselves at the Hotel Imperio where we both fell soundly asleep. In the evening we had our usual meal in the Restaurant O'Maleiro followed by a good night's sleep.

We had decided to spend Monday in Regua before getting the five o'clock train bank to Porto. We set off in the direction of Quinta da Pacheca only to notice that a house that had previously always been closed up had its gates open and a sign saying provas. We were soon inside the Quinta de Tourais  having a tour and tasting their wines. We were given a very special taste of the family's port, which wasn't for sale as it was unregulated. We learned that they have a couple of rooms so we are thinking it would be a good place to stay in the future. After that we passed some time and sampled a few more ports at Quinta da Pacheca before returning to Regua to visit Castelinho's Quinta de São Domingues to buy some of their delicious white port.

Afterwards the train journey back to Porto was largely uneventful except that the train stopped for ages at Campanhã. I was so worried that it was going to set off in the opposite direction that I persuaded Dot and the french group in our carriage to disembark. Luckily I noticed just in time that the train was about to go to São Bento so we all leapt back on board and I had a very red face. We had a brief rest at Peninsular before going out and braving a new restaurant where we had one of my favourites, feveras.

After breakfast we headed up to the offices of Vallegre in Vila Nova de Gaia. We had a fruitful meeting there reviewing their new products and revised labelling. We were given

a half bottle each of 20 and 30 year old tawny. Also Maria had kindly arranged for us to attend a fado performance in the early evening. After the meeting we made our way down towards the waterfront following a devious route that included the ancient Rua de Barão Forester. We lunched on chouriço assado and sangria made with ruby port at the delightful 3+ Arte emporium. They had an empty demijohn that had been used in making Niepoort's garrafeira port, which is about the only style that I haven't tasted yet. The guy thought he could get hold of a bottle for just over €500; we ummed and arred but decided it was too much.

We took in the tour at the Quinta dos Corvos cave, which is next to Quevedo. After which time was getting on and we had been warned by Maria that we needed to collect our tickets for the Fado in good time. We found a short cut up to the top layer of the Dom Luis bridge that we hadn’t known about before. It was steep but quick. We easily found the Casa da Guitarra following the directions we had been given. This shop is must for any guitar aficionados because it is packed with all shapes and sizes of acoustic guitars. When we were given our tickets we were told the performance was due to start at 6:30 pm rather than the usual six. This gave us a chance to pop back to our hotel to freshen up.

We arrived early for the perfomance and were shown to our seats. The other seats at the front soon filled up but there were a lot of empty ones at the back. Eventually at about a quarter to seven a large group of youngsters started to occupy them. We later found out that they were studying tourism. The performance started soon after and was truly wonderful. It was completely acoustic with no amplification before. Both the female and male singers’ voices were superb. Sadly though we were a bit too squashed in to be able to get up and dance. After the perfomance I bought a CD and we went to have a chat with the female singer. It turned out that she recognised us from our dancing at the Quevedo cave. What a small world.

We had spotted a restaurant in Gaia offering javali so we found another shortcut, this time down to the bottom layer of the bridge. I have to say that the javali was excellent if somewhat filling. It had been cooked with chestnuts and potatoes. We couldn’t manage a desert and didn’t stay to have a port as we fancied a drop of Vallegre 20 year old back in our room.

Well here we were suddenly at our last day. Our legs were feeling all the walking we had been doing so we decided to take it easy. We popped over to Gaia to do the tour and tasting at Augusto’s before it got busy. We had been there last year but as it was very busy we didn’t have time to appreciate it. This time there was only two other people who came round with us. We had a jolly good tasting. It was interesting to see how giggly our companions became; they obviously weren’t used to drinking port in the morning. During the tasting we found that the owner also owned Quinta dos Corvos, which explained the similarity in the presentations. We bought a couple of bottles and went to sit by the river for when we thought Kopke would open at two.

However when we walked in we found that there was only one member of staff on duty as the others had just gone to lunch. We decided to have a look round the shop to kill time. We got chatting with the lady there and before long she was giving us a tasting of some really special colheitas. We ended up buying a bottle of the white 2003, which had been bottled earlier this year. By now it was time to go upstairs to enjoy some ports paired with chocolates. We ended up by treating ourselves to a glass of their superb more than 40 years old. By now it was gone four and we were feeling a bit ported out so we walked back up to our hotel for a rest before supper.

That evening we ate at a simple restaurant at the other end of the Rua das Flores because they had dourada grelhada on the menu. Although they were really busy the food was brilliantly cooked. Unfortunately there was a break down in service after the main course so after waiting a good half an hour we paid up and left. I don’t think it did our bulging waste lines any harm not having a desert for once. On the way back home we passed some buskers playing rock and roll so we just had to have a jive. Dot nearly went flying on the uneven pavement but managed to stay upright. Luckily the band decided to take a break then so we carried on up the hill back to our room.

Today, after stocking up with supplies for the journey, we took a taxi out to Foz as Jean had invited us to join her for an early lunch on our way to the airport. As usual we had a lovely meal in her fascinating house accompanied by her anecdotes and experiences. Jean was mortified though to find that she had no tawny port to offer us after the meal. All too soon our taxi was waiting outside to whisk us away to the airport. Being a careful half yorkshireman I had planned to be taken to the nearest metro station and to continue our journey by train. However Dot and the driver overuled me so we travelled all the way in style and comfort. It was interesting to see some different countryside as we went. So after tasting three ports at the airport here we are at goodness knows how many feet flying back to cold old blighty.

 

Vindima 2016 Saturday 1st October

Vindima 2016 Saturday 1st October

It is hard to believe that this is already our fourth day here. I had better get on with it.

As the Easyjet flights to Porto are now at inconvenient times of the day, we decided to give British Airways a go this time. In the end the fares were only slightly higher than they would have been with Easyjet anyway. We flew out from Gatwick on Tuesday leaving shortly after 5pm. It seemed to be a good time to travel as the airport was quieter than usual meaning that we sped through the formalities. What made it better was than by the time we got on the Metro in Porto it was around 8pm so it too was quieter than usual. After a filling meal at Lagostime we had a restful in night in a superior room at the Peninsular Hotel. Such a shame that the jacuzzi bath wasn't working though.

After breakfast we wandered down to Ribeira taking in what had changed and what hadn't since our last visit. We bought a bottle or port and some fruit in a local supermarket. Luckily I decided to buy our train tickets early as there was quite a queue at the ticket office in São Bento station. It was the best part of half an hour before I was served. While waiting people kept coming up and asking me questions about the trains; fortuneately I know most of the answers. By the time I had the tickets it was time to retrieve our cases and catch our train.

We had to take the Urbano up the line to Campanhã. We nearly got on the wrong train but realised our mistake when we saw there was no one else on it. We had to walk up the platform to the next train along. At Campanhã we soon found the Douro line train and after half an hour we were on our way. It was reassuring to see Manuel waiting for us at the station in Pinhão. He soon had us in his taxi and whisked us away up to the Casa do Vilarinho where we had booked to stay. It turned out to be a bit further out of town than we had thought.

Once we had found our way in we were introduced to the owner José Cálem, who

is a major figure in the Cálem family. He has proved to be very hospitable and welcoming. He gave us a tour of the winery and house and said we could join them for a light meal that evening. We met his sister Luisa and her friend Teresa who were staying for a few days and we were able to get to know each other over the meal. Needless to say a few ports were tasted over the desert. Then just before nine it was time to pop down to the lagar for a couple of hours of serious treading. We joined José's team, who turned out to be the same guys that we had seen at Quinta da Foz some years ago. They looked the part in their smart uniforms. I am afraid to say that Dot fermented disssent in the ranks which ended up with the owner having to supply an extra bottle of wine to keep us all going.

The weird thing is that, despite the pitch black in our room caused by the wooden shutters, I have been waking up every day at exactly six. There is good wifi here so I have been able to keep up with my Duolingo classes before breakfast. The breakfasts have been modest but enjoyable. The best bits are the freshly squeezed orange juice and even fresher scrambled eggs.

After making enquiries I found, as I had suspected would be the case, that it would be best if we settled our bill with cash. As we needed more than we had at the time we too up Louisa's offer to drop us off in Pinhão. It was another gloriously warm sunny day. After topping up the cash we popped over the bridge to the Royal Oporto shop at Quinta das Carvalhas to buy a couple of things we wanted. We popped in to see Gloria in the Princessa do Douro pastelaria to fuel up for the walk back. The first hour was a jolly hot slog up hill to Casal do Loivos. Luckily we didn't get lost. After a rest and a refill of the water bottles at the town tap we continued on our way. The last part of the walk wasn't nearly so arduous and the views were stunning in every direction. Needless to say we were quite hot and tired by the time we got back so we decided to try out the tiny little swimming pool but, by gum, it was icy cold.

While we were talking the night before it transpired that Jean and her friend Rachel were coming to dinner the following day. When José realised how well we knew them he asked us too. It was great seeing the expressions on their faces when they arrived and found us here. Dot had brought all sorts of presents for Jean so it helped that they were able to take them away with them. They included a tortoise shaped tea pot full of all the teas that Dot had purloined from the hotels we have stayed at recently. Jean was highly amused and promised to add it to her tortoise collection. From then on we had a great evening of tasty food, good wine and entertaining conversation. Needless to say we didn't make it to the lagar and more excellent ports were provided. I must say it is the first occasion that I have experienced three different bottles of port being passed round the table at the same time.

Rather than having to do the slog up  from Pinhão again, the next day we decided to explore the charms of the nearby village of Casal de Lovois. First we went to the Quinta do Jalloto , which we found was owned by the caseiro of Quinta da Val da Figueira. We opted to try a couple of Johnnie's vintages there. We also so tried their honey and olive oil. The honey was so good that I bought a jar. After a while the caseiro's wife appeared to say hello. We have seen her a number of times over the years, once she gave us a lift up to Quinta de la Rosa in the back of their harvest truck, so it was good to be able to say hello to her. It transpires that they use the lagars at Figueira to start their wines off in. While we were there a tour group came and went. As it is quite high up we were pleased to be able to sit back and enjoy the views.

After that we popped up to the Miradouro in the village and spent more time enjoying the stunning view. Dot was feeling peckish so we popped in to the village cafe for a couple of beers while Dot munched her way through a packet of crisps and a Cornetto of a variety that we don't get at home. By that time it had gone two o'clock so we wandered down to see if the Olive Oil Museum was opened. As it didn't open for another twenty minutes we did a little circular walk down an old ox road and back round part of the way we had walked the day before.

By then we found that the museum was opened. It was fascinating to be shown the old equipment that they used to extract the oil by the hot method.

Everything had been painted up wonderfully and we were appreciative that someone had had the idea to preserve this piece of rural history. After the tour we had a tasting of some jolly good wines although I wasn't so keen on the name. Velha Geração (Old Generation) was a little close to home although it was meant to celebrate the generations of the family that had been involved in making wine. Needless to say, while we were there various other groups came and went. I couldn't believe that by the time we left it was gone four.

It was only half an hour back to where we were staying, by which time I needed a bit of a rest. There was only José and ourselves for dinner but we had a good time with more excellent wines and ports to try alongside the food. What's more we did make it into the lagar for an hour's treading as well.

Now I ought to explain that José Cálem is in the line of the Cálem family. The firm

itself was sold off some time ago and is now owned by Sogevinus. At that time the family retained the Quinta da Foz in Pinhão. However José has had to sell that recently and we sensed that both he and Louisa felt some regret about it. He had retained the adjacent Quinta do Sagrado and built a winery here at Casa do Vilarinho to process its grapes. During our time here there have been a couple of wine tastings and we have been able to sample the left over bottles, much to Dot's delight. In fact she has just poured herself a glass of white port. Last night we were treated to a white and a 20 year old port from Quinta da Trovisca. We thought the name sounded familiar and found out why when we read the small print on the back; they were offerings from Oscar Quevedo, whose ports we are delighted to wholesale ourselves in the UK.

After breakfast today we took a two hour constitutional walk down the road to

the village of Povoa and back. The weather was just gorgeous again so we were able to enjoy the views and other sights as we went along. The village seemed very old and tranquil. The newly refurbished well was impressive. When we returned we joined a wine tasting with a group from Brazil. I was able to follow a little of the conversation but not as much as I would have liked. I am afraid this afternoon my legs are saying they have had enough so I am taking the opportunity to write this up as well as reading my book.