Vinyards & Douro River and other Pinhão, Portugal Local Custom Tips

Port broke upon the world by chance in the 1600s as a result of British merchants on the upper Douro River adding brandy to the local wine production to prevent it from spoiling during its long journey westward to Porto on the then un-dammed, swift and dangerous river. It was noticed that this concoction tasted very good, the more so depending on the sweetness of the basic wine used. Basically, all Ports produced today are variations on this theme, with differences in flavour and appearance brought about by different grape types as well as the maturing and blending methods utilized.

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Originally, most of the Port was transported down the Douro in special boats called 'barco rabelos'. These open boats with a single mast would each carry a cargo of about 14 barrels of port on the dangerous voyage through rapids and hidden rocks. Some relics of these boats were actually still anchored beside Regua the day before when we passed through on our way to the Minho region - and I never had another chance to photo them! On our day on the Douro, we only saw this replica that is actually outfitted for short 4.5 hour cruises from Regula. It is called the 'Cenarios do Douro' and is 80 m in length with a breadth of 5.6 m and travels at about 13 knots. It has capacity for 80 passengers and comes equipped with a sun deck, bar and restaurant - not quite like the originals! The price of a cruise is about E75 (US$95).

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Website: www.euroadventures.net

The slopes of the Douro are dotted with thousands of country wine estates, called 'quintas'. Most are very similar to this one that we observed on the north side of the Douro, just above the railroad tracks that run parallel to the river on that side while highway 222 runs parallel on the south side. High on the hillside, you may be able to make out the white sign 'Offley'. This is also typical, as the quintas announce which of the wineries they are affilitated with. This particular one was established in 1737 by an Englishman, William Offley, and it was later joined by a relative of his, Joseph James Forrester, in 1831. Forrester was a brilliant Englishman who reformed the Port trade by bringing order to its production and quality control. His contribution to the increased success of the industry was so great that he was made a Baron in 1855 by King Pedro V. However, in the end, the business killed him when, in 1862, a port-carrying 'rabelos' boat overturned in rapids and he drowned in the Douro.

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