Guided trip to Northern Portugal and Spain 2016

San Sebastian

Our recent trip to Portugal and Spain was a planning trip to prepare for a small group trip in 2016, probably late May/early June.  We already have quite a bit of interest in this trip.  Normally, we take 10 to 12 people, so space is limited.  But, if you read the itinerary below and think it's great, please let us know so we can save space for you.  I don't have prices yet, but will be getting quotes on this trip right away.



  

old city of Porto

Day 1        Depart from USA for Porto, Portugal
Day 2        Arrive in Porto about noon
                  Met at airport for transfer to Hotel Palacio das Cardosas
                  Afternoon free
                  Opening dinner
Day 3        Full day tour of Porto, including Porto’s historic center, Rabelo boat trip on the Douro
                  River
                  Lunch included
                  Dinner included
                  Overnight at Hotel Palacio das Cardosas

Port barrel boats on Douro River

Day 4       Morning sightseeing in Porto
                 Lunch on your own
                 Afternoon free
                 Dinner on your own
                 Overnight at Hotel Palacio das Cardosas

Douro Valley

Day 5       Day in Douro Valley, including Pinhao, D’Origem olive oil factory and winery, lunch at
                 DOC restaurant, port tasting at Quinta Santa Eufemia
                 Check in to Hotel Casa da Calcada in Amarante
               Dinner on your own on terrace or village

Guimaraes castle

Day 6       Full day tour of region, including Guimaraes, Viana do Castelo, Ponte de Lima
                Lunch included
                  Dinner included in Amarante
                  Overnight at Hotel Casa da Calcada

ancient Celtic fortification of Castro de Borona

Day 7        Drive to Santiago de Compostela along Spanish coast, with stop at Castro de Barona,
                   an ancient Celtic fortification on the Atlantic
                   Lunch included
                   Check in to Parador de Santiago de Compostela, adjacent to the famous cathedral
                   Dinner included

cathedral of Santiago de Compostela

Day 8         Morning sightseeing in Santiago de Compostela
                   Lunch on your own
                   Afternoon free to wander the old city
                   Dinner on your own
                   Overnight at Parador de Santiago de Compostela
Day 9         Drive to Playa de Ribadesella via A Coruna and other coastal villages
                   Lunch included
                   Check in to Hotel Villa Rosario
                   Dinner included

castle at A Coruna

Day 10       Free day for hiking or exploring the town or enjoying the beautiful beach
                    Lunch on your own
                    Dinner on your own
                    Overnight at Hotel Villa Rosario
Day 11        Drive to San Sebastian along the Basque Coast visiting Santellana del Mar and Lekeitio
                    on the way
                    Lunch included
                    Check in to Hotel Maria Cristina
                    Dinner of pintxos and local wine tasting in the historic city

stone church in Santellana del Mar

Day 12        Morning sightseeing in San Sebastian, including the market, historic city and beaches
                     Lunch included
                     Afternoon free to wander the old city or shop
                     Dinner on your own
                     Overnight at Hotel Maria Cristina

Txacoli vineyard in mountains above San Sebastian

Day 13         Day of visiting mountain and fishing villages near San Sebastian, including tasting the
                     local txacoli wine, the fishing village of Gitari and Gernika (inspiration for Pablo Picasso’s
                     masterpiece, “Guernika”)
                     Lunch included
                     Dinner included
                     Overnight at Hotel Maria Cristina

we'll hike along these upended shale cliffs on the Basque Coast

Day 14         Drive to Bilbao in morning  for tour of the city
                      Lunch on your own
                      Afternoon free to visit the Guggenheim Museum or walk along the river
                      Closing dinner included
                      Overnight at Hotel Gran Domine Bilbao, right across the street from the Guggenheim

view of Bilbao's Guggenheim Museum

ay 15          Transfer to Bilbao airport for flights home to USA

 

Newark's Liberty Airport--avoid at all costs!

Yesterday we flew home from Bilbao via Frankfurt, Newark and on to Denver.  Newark's airport turned out to be a completely miserable experience.  Avoid this airport if you can.  And, United Airlines was equally awful at Newark.

Our flight (United) was late arriving from Frankfurt because it took them over an hour to clean the plane in Frankfurt--how hard is it to clean a plane?  So, that meant we had to run to catch our connection to Denver.  But, of course you have to go through another security line.

No problem--we are both TSA pre-check, which means we can breeze through security without taking off shoes, removing liquids and computers, taking off coats.  Easy, right?  Not at Newark.  They had shoved at least 200 people into the pre-check line (including mostly people who hadn't been cleared for pre-check--I asked).  But, they had only 1 line open for x-raying bags and bodies.  So, this debacle took 30 minutes, by which time our Denver flight was well into the boarding process.  When a number of passengers suggested that the TSA agents lolling in the background could open a second lane, they just sneered at us.

TSA wanted to look at my bag because I had 3 small jars of spices in it.  No problem.  I told the TSA agent that I was happy to have him look through my bag, but that my flight was boarding.  So, this gem of a public servant proceeded to search for the 3 jars (I showed him where they were) and then submit each one plus other items (mostly dirty clothes) to an explosives check, knowing full well what was in the jars and my suitcase.  This guy just wanted to show how powerful he was.

Every single person I had to deal with at Newark was surly.  We proceeded to the United gate for our Denver flight.  The United gate agent was equally rude--and a bully.  He glared at each passenger's carry-on bag and demanded that many of them be put into the frame verifying their carry-on size.  When my husband shoved his in, and it actually fit, qualifying it for carry-on status, this United "customer service" agent told him it was "too tight" and he would have to check it.  He wouldn't give my husband back his boarding pass until he had checked it.  And, he did the same with many other passengers. 

When we got to Denver, it took United 45 minutes to get the bags to the carousel--ensuring that we missed 2 buses to our parking lot and taking us an extra hour to get home, after a 22 hour trip.

Now, we are both premium United customers, each having flown over 2.5 million miles on United and being 1K customers for more than 20 years.  And, we had paid full business class fare.  So, imagine, if we were treated this way, how those without "status" (in United's parlance) were treated.  I watched this guy at the United gate in Newark--he was an equal opportunity jerk.

My advice is to avoid Newark if you possibly can.  There was not a single person we dealt with there who cared at all about customers or customer service.  This has not been our experience at most airports--and we travel a lot through many airports.  Newark, and United at Newark, were a notably unpleasant experience.  Stay away!

Treasure of the Basque Country--San Sebastian

view of San Sebastian

San Sebastian is the capital of one of the Basque provinces of Spain, a beautiful city on the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by rugged mountains.  The bay is partly protected by 2 rocky islands that get battered by large swells coming in from the west, throwing up great swaths of white water as they hit the rocks.  From a viewpoint above the city you can see the perfectly formed bathing beach (a bit chilly right now) and the breakers beyond that attract surfers from all over Spain.

 

We went from there down to the water to see sculptures by one of San Sebastian's most famous artists.  The waves were big and frothy.  We watched them crashing on the rocks and then got thoroughly doused by one particularly large wave.

wave breaking on rock





Gail and Karlos enjoying wine and pintxos

Years ago, when my kids were in high school, we had an exchange student from San Sebastian.  That exchange student is now a critical care doctor in San Sebastian, married to an oncologist.  They have a 15 year old son who is an avid surfer and skier. 

Our first night in San Sebastian, we met them for an evening of pintxos (pronounced pinchos) and wine and had a wonderful time traipsing from tiny bar to tiny bar, eating these delicious tapas and enjoying the regional wines.  This is a big deal with locals and tourists alike, so the streets of the old city are crowded from about 9 p.m. to 1 or 2 a.m. every night as people follow the Basque tradition of sharing a glass of wine and a plate of tapas in one bar after another.  I hadn't seen Karlos since an earlier visit to San Sebastian with my daughter a dozen years ago--and before that not in the 15 years since he'd graduated from Ponderosa High School in Parker at the end of his year with us.  It was a real joy to see him and his family again and to reminisce about adventures and misadventures when he lived with us.  We look forward to spending time with Karlos and his family when we return to San Sebastian next year.

view of river out to Atlantic

We had an excellent guide to show us the city the next morning.  He owns his own travel agency, Basque Tours (www.basquetours.com) which specializes in showing travelers the beautiful Basque country.  Jon is a world traveler himself so knows how to work well with people from many countries and cultures.

Our first stop was the viewpoint above the city that was hard to leave, given the gorgeous beaches and rocky points below.  After that, the Old City with its spotless market where Jon gave us a chef's tour of the many varieties of fish on display and showed us how to identify the very fresh from the slightly less so.  There are Iberian hams hanging in shops, the best from the black pigs from southern Spain which feast on acorns and tender care until the very end.  Fruits and vegetables are just coming into season, so the market was full of beautifully arranged produce.

Pulpo (octopus), calamari, anchovies and bacalao (cod, much of which is salted and dried) are staples throughout Spain and Portugal.  Entire shops sell only salted cod.  When you order pinxtos or snacks from a bar or restaurant, these are  heavily represented on the menu.

Maria Cristina Hotel

The historic center of San Sebastian is bordered by a large rocky promontory on one side, the Atlantic on another, the river on a third and a wide boulevard on the fourth.  Originally, the city was confined to this area but now, of course, is much larger.  While prosperous in the 15th and 16th centuries, the city went into decline after that until the 19th century when Queen Maria Cristina, regent for her infant son who was the king, decided to spend her summers in San Sebastian.  Her court and the diplomatic corps followed her there, thus bringing new fortune to the city.  Our hotel, the Maria Cristina, is named after her and features her prominently throughout the hotel.

Today, San Sebastian is known for its food, wine, surfing, beauty and culture.  It has a heavily Basque population, proud of their language and heritage and determined to maintain their identity and culture. 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                            

Galicia and the Basque Country--Santiago de Compostela to San Sebastian

A Coruna castle

Leaving Santiago de Compostela, we headed towards A Coruna and Oviedo to see these historically important cities.  A Coruna has an absolutely beautiful central plaza in the heart of its old section and a well-preserved old castle.  Its busy seafront has a yacht harbor (pretty typical of the coastal towns).  There are so many yacht harbors along the coast filled with small to huge yachts that I am wondering how many have human owners and how many belong to banks in this country with 25% unemployment and a still-struggling economy.

Oviedo's cathedral

 

Oviedo’s historic center is very interesting, but looks like it continues to feel the full impact of Spain’s terrible economy.  So many small shops closed years ago and have never reopened.  It was quite cold and misty while we were wandering the streets, so the normal bustle of Oviedo's downtown was missing, another indicator, perhaps, of difficult times for this old city.

Ribadesella waterfront and yacht harbor

We spent several hours in the beach town of Ribadesella to see if we'd enjoy a stay there when we bring a group next year, visiting hotels and checking out the town.  We found a small hotel we liked a lot, right on a beautiful beach.  There are nice hikes in the surrounding mountains that we’d love to do if we come back.  The waterfront, while in need of spiffing up, has many bars and restaurants.  This is a very popular resort for Spaniards from the central part of the country and is busy from June to October.

El Molino de Tresgrandes

Our lodging for the night was a farm with 11 guest rooms in beautifully restored old stone and timber buildings.  A  small stream runs right next to the main house, set in the midst of green fields and hills, obviously a nice area for walks.  There is one Shetland pony and an ostrich occupying one of the fields, seemingly quite contented together, and a dog living with the chickens and a huge rooster who is probably there to keep foxes out.  I wish I’d seen someone petting him.  They have a cozy restaurant and serve only food grown on the farm, except perhaps, beef (I didn’t see a cow or steer).  Very charming—El Molino de Tresgrandes.

street entering Santellana del Mar

Yesterday, we drove from El Molino to beautiful San Sebastian, a Basque city set on a shell-shaped bay and pounded, in the stormy weather, by large waves.  On the way, we visited the Basque fishing towns of Bormeo and Lekeitio and a very charming town just inland, Santellana del Mar.  Maybe it was once on the sea, centuries ago.

 

Beautiful drive from San Sebastian to Bilbao

Txakoli vineyard in mountains above San Sebastian

We drove to Bilbao today for an early morning flight home tomorrow.  Bilbao has an international airport, which San Sebastian does not.  Our hotel is right across the street from the sensational Guggenheim Museum, which has given Bilbao international cache and lots of tourists, something this mostly industrial city with lots of old world charm didn't have before.

First, a couple of photos of the museum.


main entrance to Guggenheim Museum

back side of Bilbao's Guggenheim Museum



Guggenheim Museum from river

The day started with a wonderful drive through the mountains and along the coast between San Sebastian and Bilbao. First was a tasting at a local winery located on top of a ridge and overlooking a valley full of vineyards.

The local wine is called txakoli (cha-ka-li, with the emphasis on the cha--Basque doesn't have a c, so the tx makes the ch sound we know).  It's a slightly spritzy white wine which you drink when it is very young, so it is kept in fermentation tanks for only 3 weeks before the process is stopped.  Then, it's ready for bottling.  It's a flavorful, tangy wine, very light and very popular in this region.  The owner has 2 daughters who are in the U.S. right now marketing the wine in New York and California.

Gail and Don with owner of Talai Berri Wiinery

Next was a stop in Gitari, a pretty little fishing village about 30 minutes away from San Sebastian, over a mountain road and down to a bay filled with fishing boats.  This village has 2000 residents and has become quite popular with Spanish tourists.  So, it has several nice shops selling local products--cheese, ham, all kinds of pickled vegetables and fish, spices and more.

uplifted shale cliffs near Gitari

Nearby is a very interesting area of uplifted slabs of shale that form big cliffs above the Atlantic.  You can see remnants of these slabs when the tide is low, as it was today when we were there.  On top of the cliff is a picturesque church that was used in a very popular Spanish movie, so now this area gets tourists from all over Spain who want to visit the church.

old church made famous by Spanish movie

We all know a little about Gernika because of Picasso's most famous painting, Guernica, showing the horror and anguish of the German bombing of the village of Gernika (at Franco's request) in 1937, during the Spanish Civil War.  Gernika has always been the place where local and regional nobles, and now, politicians, gather to vow their support for Basque laws and culture.  As a result, the Basque provinces have quite a lot of autonomy within Spain, with their own tax, legal and police systems.  Our guide, an ardent Basque nationalist, dreams of the day this area will be a separate country.  Other people we talked to, however, think it would be folly to break away from Spain.


Gernika's replica of Picasso's Guernica

This is the route we will take when we bring a group here next year--a memorable last day in northwestern Spain.

Santiago de Compostela--the pilgrim city

doorway to Parador Dos Reis Catalicos

We drove into Santiago de Compostela last night, finding our parador quite easily thanks to Don’s good navigation on his iPad and Google maps.  The Parador de Dos Reis Catolicos used to be a large monastery directly adjacent to Santiago’s enormous and famous cathedral.  The location is absolutely perfect for enjoying a couple of days in this city.  You can easily walk anywhere in the historic center of Santiago from the parador.  It faces the largest and most important square, where pilgrims end their 450 mile walk to the cathedral.

cathedral under restoration

Santiago de Compostela used to be the 3^rd most important city in Christendom.  Today, thousands of pilgrims make the long walk here.  Most are wearing backpacks and carrying walking sticks.  But, there are several staying in this parador, so they are not roughing it at night.  All along the pilgrimage route are hotels and hostels that cater just to pilgrims.  As we walked back to the parador this afternoon, a group of young pilgrims was cheering as they passed under a vaulted arcade and down the steps leading to the square, ending their long journey.

restored steeple with unrestored facade

The cathedral is beautiful.  While the outside has been changed many times over the centuries, the interior has remained the same since the 11^th and 12^th centuries.  It is huge and, today, full of pilgrims gathered for the Mass.  Probably like that every day.  Many people were making their confessions to priests, all quite old, set up in confessionals along the walls of the nave.  A nun with a lovely voice started the mass, accompanied by a woman playing the enormous pipe organ.  The sound was wonderful and filled the cathedral.  Clearly, this is a very meaningful moment for the many pilgrims, many still with their backpacks on and some in tears.

Unfortunately, the cathedral’s façade is being cleaned and restored right now, so it is encased in scaffolding.  The difference between the clean and the unrestored areas is striking.

11th century nave of the cathedral

Today, we walked around the historic center of the city for several hours and will go out again later this afternoon.  I’m hoping the opera singer will be able to enjoy his singing again tonight.  In fact, as in most tourist cities, there is lots of music and many mimes.  People young and old are stationed around the tourist area playing instruments and singing or trying to keep absolutely still in their white, gold or black makeup and costumes.  The economy is so tough here that these are the only ways some of these very talented musicians can survive.

Palacio de Roxoi in main square

There is a great market near one edge of the historical city that is spotless and active, filled with fresh produce, fish, mean, spices, salted cod (bacalhao) and much more.  By mid-afternoon, most merchants have sold out and left for the day.  The center of the city is a maze of cobblestone streets and alleyways, lined with shops and countless restaurants.  They are busy since this is such an important tourist destination, but there are still too many closed stores.  As you wander, one of the pleasures is coming upon the many small squares, usually in front of churches, but some just at the junction of two cobbled alleys.  Because Santiago is also a university town,  there are students everywhere, walking to class and sitting in the many cafes you can find in almost every square.

 

Driving the Northern Spanish Coast to Santiago de Compostela

Castro de Barona

Yesterday, we drove from the city of Pontevedra, Spain around 2 peninsulas to Santiago de Compostela.  In this part of Spain, there are 3 long peninsulas jutting into the Atlantic as 4 large inlets cut into the coastline. 

The first peninsula, between inlets 2 and 3, looked like a mini-Costa del Sol.  Lots of large high-rise buildings housing condos, apartments and hotels.  There isn’t much to recommend this part of the coast since it’s town after town with nothing of interest and not enough ocean views to make the drive worth it.  The towns are mostly closed down right now since the season won’t start for another month.  That was lucky for us as I imagine the narrow roads are very crowded in the summer.

rocks and surf along coast

We really enjoyed our drive along the coastline of the 3^rd peninsula.  Here there are only a couple of large towns with massive buildings.  Most of the coastline is open with a few fishing villages.  The Atlantic pounds the rocks along this coast, so you get to see curling, crashing waves throwing up their white water and mist as they hit the rocks and cliffs.  Stunning.

Most enjoyable, however, is a little-known Celtic ruin, Castro de Barona, about 20 km south of the city of Noia.  This area was occupied between the 1^st century BC and the 1^st century AD.  Originally, it was quite a bit larger, but erosion from the heavy surf appears to have carved away much of the settlement.  Today, you can see about 20 stone circles which may have been homes 2000 years ago.  There was no fresh water, so it looks like the inhabitants carved bowls into the granite to catch water.  There are what may be water channels cut into the rock leading from these bowls into the settlement. 

Castro de Borona stonecircles

surf off Castro de Borona

The views are spectacular, with huge rollers slamming into the tiny peninsula of granite and grass.  As part of each wave hits the rocks, another section forms a perfect roll that you can see through as it breaks.  The water is turquoise and deep blue and frothy white where the waves break and wash back to sea.  We spent an hour exploring and enjoying the peaceful view.  The government is rebuilding the wall that used to protect the settlement, on the ocean side of a moat the inhabitants cut across the little peninsula.  Well worth a visit.

opera singer

Don enjoying tapas


 

Last night we sat outside and ate delicious tapas, accompanied by local wine.  All very informal and fun, with lots of noisy Spaniards enjoying their evening and wine and an adorable puppy scavenging among the tables.

On our way back to the parador, we stopped for about an hour to listen to a street musician singing opera in the vaulted passageway alongside the cathedral.  He had a magnificent voice and attracted quite a following of passers-by, many of whom left him some money, which he most surely deserved.  I’m hoping he’s there again tonight.

 

Guimaraes to Spain across Northern Portugal

Guimaraes main square

 Portugal began in Guimaraes, a city in the center of the northern region of Portugal.  This is also another grape region which, like the Douro Valley, fills plots large and small with vines.  Some little vineyards have only a couple of vines, often on a tiny terrace on a steep hillside or in someone’s back garden.  Other, larger vineyards, fill several hectares of gentler mountainside.

Guimaraes castle

Guimaraes now has the well-kept remains of an 11^th century castle, built by the king to protect the region and, even more, himself and his family.  This was not an elegant abode as the royal family had only a few dark and dank rooms while the army protecting them shared the rest of the castle.  It has no water source so would not have been good in a siege, but fortunately didn’t have to really do its job.

Guimaraes duke's palace

 One of the dukes built a huge and beautiful palace.  The rooms are interesting to visit because of their massive tapestries, Persian carpets and period furniture.  More enjoyable is the old downtown, with its old houses, pretty squares and flowers everywhere.  Sitting in a café sipping coffee and watching the world go by seems to be a pastime of locals as well as tourists.

pousada at Guimaraes

We also checked out the pousada in Guimaraes, an old monastery that sits halfway up the hill behind the city.  It has beautiful courtyards, gardens and views.  There are so many pousadas in Portugal that I wonder how those in the smaller towns and cities survive.  Most tourists visit Guimaraes on a day trip from Porto, so probably don’t stay in the pousada.

Roman bridge at Ponte de Lima

Next was a stop at Ponte de Lima (bridge over the Lima river), a medieval town just inland from the Atlantic with a Roman bridge crossing the Lima River.  On the riverfront are the remains of the old city wall as well as old buildings and churches.  A nice place to stop and enjoy a short walk across the bridge and a second coffee in one of the outdoor cafes.

Ponte de Lima

We visited Viana do Castelo, another medieval town on the Lima River, just inland from the Atlantic.  It was Sunday, so very quiet, but we wandered through the Costume Museum, which sounds dull, but is very worth the visit.  Village women with little money used coarse cloth for their clothes, but decorated them beautifully with colorful embroidery and lace.  When they married, they dressed completely in embroidered black full-length dresses, which showed off to perfection the masses of heavy gold necklaces the brides wore.  The town itself is a nice visit, with pleasant squares, lots of flowers and renovated, charming old buildings.  There is a medieval church on the mountain above the town which has gorgeous views all the way to the ocean.

We continued on to Vigo, Spain, where we left our excellent Portuguese guide and picked up our rental car.  The next few days we’ll be touring Northern Spain on our own, from Vigo to San Sebastian.

 

 

Portugal's Douro Valley

Douro Valley

The Douro River forms the mountainous Douro Valley to the east of Porto.  It is one of Portugal’s most important wine and port producing areas, with 3 primary production zones, the vino verde in the lower part of the valley, alta in the middle part and superior, the best, in the upper regions of the valley.  We have tried several wines from the superior region, which were excellent.  The wine estates are called quintas.


Pablo, Barbara, our guide, andDon

Yesterday, we spent the day in the Douro Valley, an hour’s drive from Porto.  We started the day in Pinhao, about midway up the river, at a tiny family olive oil and wine production facility in their home, D’Origem.  The family has made olive oil and wine for 4 generations.  Until recently, they pressed the olives with 2 enormous, 2 tons each, stone wheels.  Today, they use a cold press which is much faster and more efficient and, according to the owner, Pablo, who gave us the tour, just as good.  We also tasted his wines, one a dry, crisp white and the other a flavorful red, both alta wines.  Pablo’s mother lives in the old family house while he and his wife and their two sons live nearby.  The estate is at top of a high hill in a village of 250 people.

Don at lunch in Douro Valley

Lunch was one of those delicious, overwhelming wine tasting luncheons in a beautiful restaurant right next to the Douro River.  We had 4 course and 4 wines.  I drank 1 sip per tasting, but Don loved them all, so was more than sleepy on our way to our next stop.  It was a lovely day, sunny, warm, perfect along the slow-moving river (slow because we were just above one of the 6 dams along the river between the Atlantic and the Spanish border.

Next was the day’s highlight (this at 4:30 pm), a visit to a family-owned port winery, Quinta Santa Eufemia, also high above the river in a tiny village.  The fourth generation now owns the winery, passionately and proudly so.  There are 7 brothers and sisters in the current generation of owners.  We spent quite a lot of time talking to one of the sisters-in-law, who works her tail off at the winery, and one of the sisters (both are also French teachers in a nearby town) about how the family works together, who makes decisions and how, what they are going to do about passing the estate down to the next generation of 12 children (they don’t want to even talk about that now even though the kids range from 17 to 22—it’s too difficult right now).

church at Santa Eufemia port winery

This winery does everything by hand, including the traditional stomping of the grapes by human feet.  Our guide, the sister-in-law we talked to, said it takes 2 hours per batch of grapes to stomp out all the juice if there are 6 people stamping.  If she does this alone, it takes her 4 hours.  You know you are finished when you feel the stone underneath your feet throughout the large granite bin, which holds 3 ½ tons of grapes (the other bin holds 4 tons).  The grapes must be stomped as soon as they are picked because, for Port, you must control the fermentation so carefully in order to get the right amount of sugar (fermentation must be stopped in 2 – 4 days, by adding brandy with 70% alcohol to 7% alcohol port).  Before the grapes are transferred to the granite bins, they must have all the debris, such as leaves and stems removed.  Human hands remove the leaves; a machine removes the stems.  During the harvest, outside workers come in for 8 hours per day.  Other family members work round the clock, giving one another breaks, to make sure the grapes get mashed and the port ferments just the right time.  One sister is the wine maker, tasting and blending carefully to get just the right flavors and quality.

Santa Eufemia logo

After the stomping process, the mash is immediately moved to a spinner, which removes the seeds and any additional debris, before being transferred to large stainless steel tanks where the juice is removed after a couple of days, once the sediments have sunk to the bottom of the tank.

village across Douro River

Next stop is oak barrels, very old, some as old as 200 years, most small for particular vintages, some very large for blended ports.  Here the port remains for years of decades.  Periodically, the barrels must be scraped clean, a hazardous task.  One family member squeezes into the huge barrels for no more than 10 minutes at a time because there is no air circulation inside and scrapes quickly while another family member keeps watch outside.  Our guide’s son does this right now, which makes her very anxious.  Scraping one of the large barrels takes 2 to 3 days.  Quite a task in 10 minute spurts, squeezing yourself in and out of an opening barely large enough for small shoulders to work in a hot, humid, overwhelmingly alcoholic environment.

The family bottles their own wines.  Each bottle has a number provided, for a fee, by the port wine regulatory body of the Douro Valley.  Losing a bottle to a damaged label is very costly.  We tasted 4 ports, all excellent, including one tawny port that was 40 years old and the best of all.  If you are in the Douro Valley, I recommend this quinta highly—very interesting business, excellent ports, best of all, the family.