Walking in Portugal: Douro Valley

Unknown places to walk - Douro Valley and river Bestança

6:58 PM David Monteiro 0 Comments Category : active vacation , adventure , Douro Valley , Northern Portugal , port wine , Portugal , walking

The Way of Saint James

11:30 PM David Monteiro 0 Comments Category : active vacation , adventure , Douro Valley , Northern Portugal , Portugal , walking , way of saint james , where to go

Visiting Portugal - where to go, what to visit?

10:06 AM David Monteiro 0 Comments Category : active vacation , culture , Douro Valley , eating in Lisbon , Europe , food , gastronomy , hiking , history , lisbon , port wine , Porto , Portugal , Setúbal , Sintra , where to go

Port wine

1:22 PM David Monteiro 0 Comments Category : active vacation , Douro Valley , Europe , Northern Portugal , port wine , Porto , walking , wine

When someone thinks about visiting Portugal and spends some time searching for what to see and do in this country, I think one of the suggestions that will appear quite often is tasting/drinking port wine.

Am I right? Anyone, non-Portuguese, who reads this post please comment.
The problem is that when you get here you will find so many different port wines that will be confused. I do not mean about the many existing brands, I mean the types of port wine.

Tawny, LBV, Ruby, Vintage, ... are some of the names that will see it on the bottles.

There are several types of port wine?

Yes, there are several types of port wine.

Are they so different to the point of a regular person to feel the differences?

Yes, between the various categories there are significant differences. Nothing better than drinking different categories and feel the differences – this is the best part, naturally.

My intention is only to give a general idea about port wine and help those who want to choose a bottle to take home or offer.

However, it is always good to prove them all – eheheheheh - that is the true choice of knowledgeable.

What is the port wine?

In the research I did, the definition of port wine that pleased me most is on Wikipedia and says "Port wine (also known as Vinho do Porto,..., and often simply port) is a Portuguese fortified wine produced exclusively in the Douro Valley in the northern provinces of Portugal." (link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_wine)

Is port wine so different from a regular table wine? If so, why is that?

Good ... very simple, just drink one and drink the other and you will see big differences.
Port wine is sweeter and has higher alcohol content than table wine. A regular red table wine has around 14% alcohol and a red port wine around 20 or 22% alcohol.
As you already know, port wine can only be produced in the region of the Douro Valley and to produce port wine or Douro table wine the same types of grapes are used, what makes the big difference between the two wines is the production method.

The whole process of picking and treading the grapes is equal to port wine and table. The difference starts during the fermentation period.

To produce port wine there will be a shorter fermentation period of 2 or 3 days and to produce table wine a regular fermentation period of 6 or 7 days.

Then, in the case of port wine, to stop the fermentation process a certain quantity of wine spirits is added to fortify the wine.

As a result we will get a sweeter wine because not all the sugar was transformed into alcohol and a wine with higher alcohol content because it was added wine spirits.

This wine spirits is neutral, colorless, with a 77% alcoholic content, it is generally added at the rate of approximately 115 liters of spirits per 435 liters of wine in fermentation, although this ratio can vary.

In relation to the types of port wine, let us start by understanding how do they to relate to each other and then we will see some details of each category.

Red (Tinto):
-Ruby: Ruby, Recently, LBV (Late Bottled Vintage) and Vintage
-Tawny: Tawny, Tawny, Tawny Reserve X years (10, 20, 30 or 40) and harvesting

White (Branco): very sweet called "Lágrima", "Sweet", "Dry" and "Extra dry.

Rosé

There is a lot of information on the internet about this subject and the biggest problem is to choose what to read. I strongly recommend consulting the website https://www.ivdp.pt/ the IVDP is the Port and Douro Wines Institute and here you will find very good information.
To learn more in detail about the various categories of port wine can go directly to: https://www.ivdp.pt/pagina.asp?codPag=64&codSeccao=2&idioma=1

Now it's time to stop writing about it and go drink a port wine.

I will drink a Tawny 10 years of Quinta de La Rosa, anyone with me?

"Saúde" (means health in Portuguese)

David

Walking in the Douro Valley

5:09 PM David Monteiro 1 Comments Category : active vacation , adventure , culture , Douro Valley , history , Portugal , travel , vacations , walking

From the belvedere of São Salvador do Mundo (Saint Saviour of the World) we can see the majestic River Douro. There is 493m separating us from the river bed, a long slope completely filled with vineyards from where the fabulous port wine and Douro wine are produced.

Looking around, the river dominates the landscape. Is like a long snake on its way to the ocean.

Almost all we can see from here are steep shores with vineyards. In the few little spaces that Man is not be able to extract wine from we will find proud olive trees whose fruit will produce one of the best Portuguese olive oils, the Douro Valley olive oil.

This is an overwhelming location, a high point from where I can see a huge number of other summits, there are countless mountains around here, spread as far as the eye can see.

Down the steep slope, very close to the River, I can see the train that slips through the railways, it looks like a toy. I can hardly distinguish it and sometimes it seems like a caterpillar being swallowed by the landscape, is in fact the train going into some tunnels existing along the railway.

The walks that can take you to these highest points are not easy, especially if you lack of training but with some patience and walking slowly one will win the strong inclination of the trails and finally will get the reward for the effort that are these breathtaking landscapes.

I prefer the first hours of day after hot days. The river steam condenses in the air leaving a very slight mist which gives a mystical ambiance to the Sunrise complementing this idyllic setting. This is gold for photography lovers.

Going down towards the River, we will notice an increase of temperature, especially at half hillside and we understand why these grapes ripen so early, we understand how life can be hard around here for those who are harvesting vines.

A large part of these grapes are harvested by hand and, during harvesting season, there are numerous teams of people hired from everywhere to participate in the harvest. In other post I will detail a bit more matters concerned with the port wine, the wine production and the harvesting.

Continuing to descend and already very close to the river banks is time to take another trail. Here the air is fresher, tempered by river moisture.

The trail goes quite close and along the railway line of the infrequent train and, when it passes, is always cause for joy and excitement. Every time it the passes I imagine what the people inside will think about the group of walkers who apparently are in the middle of nowhere.

The train stations are perfect locations for brief stops to eat a snack and we can also admire the hand painted tiles.

There is a long tradition of hand painted tiles in Portugal and we can find impressive tile works in these train stations.

Some stations retain their tiles in very good conditions. The Pinhão train station is a good example with its tile panels of the Aveiro Tile Factory, produced in 1937. These hand painted tile panels were done with traditional colors, blue, yellow in white background representing scenes from Douro Valley daily life.

The train is a very important element in the Douro Valley, not only because it brought a quick, effective and less expensive way to transport the grapes and the wine to Vila Nova de Gaia but also, on the opposite side, opened a transportation door to Spain and from there to the rest of Europe.

The Douro railway line began to be thought of in 1867. The Porto/Régua line section was opened in 15th June 1879. The complete line that runs from the Porto up to Barca d'alva (border) and it was completed in 1887. Nowadays the train does not go so far anymore, the ride ends at Pocinho, around 30km’s before Barca d’Alva.

In addition to the olive trees the almond trees stands out in number and, the closer we get to Pocinho, the almond trees become more numerous. Is in the Algarve and Trás-os-Montes regions where there are greater abundance of almond trees in Portugal.

Around here the arbutus (also known as Pacific madrone) is also quite abundant. I do not know whether these trees grow wildly or if they have been planted at any given time.

I love the arbutus with their white florets, red berries, standing out in the middle of the dark green foliage. One day I will get some of these berries and find someone to teach how make “aguardente de medronho” a liquor done with these fruit, a kind of rough brandy ... is an idea I’ll undertake someday.
The Douro Valley is a land of extremes, very warm of very cold but in the few months in which we can walk is a dream made reality.

Basically, between April and the end of May and between mid-September to late October the Douro Valley is just perfect to visit and to walk around. There is no time better than the other, there are different seasons and with very different scenarios.

Between April and May we have the olive trees showing their white florets, the almond trees with their tiny “pinkish” white flowers and an almond aroma in the air, this gives a very sensual touch to the place together with thousands of small wild flowers everywhere. During this timeframe the dominant color of the Douro Valley is the green of the vines leafs.

Visiting the Douro Valley in September/October you will see the end of the harvesting season. The vines have dark red leafs and the scenario is an impressive spectacle of shades of red and one can take amazing photographs.
The harvesting is probably the most important time of the year and all around there are people carrying baskets of grapes in a huge frenzy.

The soil in the Douro Valley is basically composed by shale and to plant vineyards in these steep hard slopes was developed a system of terraces you can find all across the Douro Valley.

The rock was blown up, dropping rocks and causing cracks in the shale that vines have taken advantage of in order to take their roots sometimes up to 25 meters deep to find water.

In a landscape dominated by the River, the hike could not finish better than with an excellent ride on a Rabelo boat, the wooden typical boat of the Douro River that was once used to transport the barrels of wine to Vila Nova de Gaia (Porto) from where the port was then taken for the rest of the world.

The river waters are usually calm and the Rabelo boat, with its wide hull, is a very stable and comfortable vessel, sailing toward the mouth, to the West.

Ahead of us the sunset, is the end of a fabulous day, a treasure to save.

David Monteiro

Douro Valley Demarcated Wine Region

10:17 AM David Monteiro 0 Comments Category : active vacation , adventure , culture , Douro Valley , history , Portugal , travel , vacations , walking , wine

During the XVII century the British were importing huge quantities of Portuguese wine that were transported until the UK by sea.

Unfortunately, due to the severe conditions of shipping at that time, the wine often soured. So they started to add alcohol to keep the wine in good conditions until arriving to its destination.

By that time the sailors realize that besides increasing the alcoholic grade, which was already very appreciated by them, the alcohol enhanced the wine flavor and aroma and that was allegedly the beginning of the Porto Wine.

Well … if we believe in this story so the Bristish was right in claiming they was the “inventors” of the Porto Wine.

However … yes, there is always an “however” in every story ehehehe … however, we know that this method of add alcohol to the wine during the shipping is much older than that. The Portuguese navigators of the XV century were already using it. So, what can we say?

The first record we have about a “Vinho do Porto”, or Porto Wine, being shipped from Portugal is dated from 1678.

The wine was growing and being produced in the Douro Valley and transported to Vila Nova de Gaia in wooden boats called “Rabelo”. Vila Nova de Gaia is the city in front of Porto, on the other river bank. Finally the wine was shipped from Porto area and that is why was known by the name of Porto Wine.

As you can imagine the amount of business originated by the wine selling to the UK was quite important for Portugal. The Portuguese are/were not different from the rest of the humans worldwide and they started to decrease the quality of the wine and increasing the profit … not very clever nor original at all … and that happened until a point that the business was at stake.

By mid-eighteenth century the Portuguese king D. José I was ruling the country and his Prime Minister was a man called Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, known as Marquis de Pombal.

Marquis de Pombal was a very tough man, after the Lisbon 1755 earthquake he punished quite severely who was caught stilling from the city wreckage and he had his reputation from many other similar situations. With the objective of protecting the Porto Wine business, which was very important for the country, in between many other measures he established the Demarcated Wine Region of the Douro in 1756.

That is how was born the oldest demarcated wine region in the world and until today it stays more or less with the same configuration, with some modifications of corse.

In 2001 UNESCO recognized the Douro Valley as a World Heritage Site:

“Criterion iii The Alto Douro Region has been producing wine for nearly two thousand years and its landscape has been moulded by human activities. Criterion iv The components of the Alto Douro landscape are representative of the full range of activities association with winemaking – terraces, quintas (wine-producing farm complexes), villages, chapels, and roads. Criterion v The cultural landscape of the Alto Douro is an outstanding example of a traditional European wine-producing region, reflecting the evolution of this human activity over time.”

Douro Valley photos at Flickr, clic here

If you want to tour and know the Douro Valley contact me: david.jose.monteiro@gmail.com

Drink a glass of Porto Wine with your friends and have fun.

David Monteiro

Some important links if you want to know more about this subject:

Região Vinhateira do Alto Douro (Wine Region of High Douro) - http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regi%C3%A3o_Vinhateira_do_Alto_Douro#Divis.C3.A3o_Geogr.C3.A1fica

Alto Douro Wine Region, UNESCO World Heritage Site –http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1046

Douro DOC – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douro_DOC

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