A day in the Douro Valley

looking down on the Douro River

If you take the mountain road to the Douro Valley from Porto, you come to the top of a high ridge and a lovely view of the spectacular Douro River far below.  The steep mountainsides above the river are covered with terraced vineyards.  This is wine country, both excellent red and white varietals and the Ports for which Portugal is justifiably famous.

mountainside vineyards

Today, the vineyards were bright green, highlighted by brilliant red poppies and golden daisies growing wild between the terraces.  Most of the vineyards, called quintas, cultivate roses, which are also in full bloom in June.  Wines have been produced here since the days of the Romans.  In the last 500 years, the British have dominated the industry, though, today, the Portuguese government and industry associations set the standards and production quotas.  About 85% of the wines made in Portugal are now exported all over the world, including to Japan and China.

200 year old olive oil factory at D'Origem

We began our day with a visit to D'Origem, both an olive oil and wine producer.  The factory is perched high on a steep mountainside, part of a tiny village surrounded by vineyards.  So, the views are incredible.  The family's 5th generation, personified by a charming teenaged boy who gave us our tour, is preparing to take over the operations one day.

Olive oil used to be made using very hot water, but today is cold-pressed, which produces a smooth, nutty (in D'Origem's case) oil.  The residue of crushed seeds, skins and pulp is used for fertilizing the fields and feeding animals.  The winery makes several varieties of wine, including a very good rose, and exports its wines around the world despite its small production.

Lunch today was a "slow" lunch at a wonderful restaurant right on the river.  Actually, the river flows under the deck where we ate.  After 3 hours of a superb tasting menu accompanied by several different wines, we stumbled off to a Port wine quinta, also way above the river overlooking steep slopes and vineyards.

watching slow river during slow lunch

Santa Eufemia is a full family operation, with 7 brothers and sisters and their respective spouses all playing some role in the vineyards and winery.  They "stomp" the grapes for their Ports, literally. Depending on the year and the variety, the stomping can take 2 to 3 hours in the first round, with 5 people, including the sister-in-law who told us their story, doing the stomping.  Next is the pressing to squeeze the juice from the grapes and remove the skins and seeds before transferring the fresh wine to barrels for aging.

Port is fermented for a very short time, usually 30 minutes, because of the need to keep the natural sugars in the wine.  To stop fermentation, the winemaker adds wine that is 87% alcohol, usually the family's old and less valuable wine, to the juice, which immediately stops the fermentation.  This happens right at the end of the crushing process and before the wine is transferred to the oak casks.

Port can be aged for years, but doesn't change its character with aging unless it's exposed to oxygen. so the corks now have plastic tops to keep oxygen from entering the wine through the cork.  We tasted 5 Ports, all excellent, ranging from an old white Port to both tawny and ruby Ports.  Enough wine for one day!