Day 3 – Sunday 30 June 2024
There was a choice of three morning excursions; we took the one with latest departure (09:15) which was to Quinta da Aveleda and its gardens followed by a wine tasting. A local guide walked us around the gardens. There was a persistent drizzle at the start which developed into heavy rain. Our guide found shelter for us, and she radioed her colleagues and after 5 minutes a golf cart packed with umbrellas arrived and we continued the tour sheltering under umbrellas. The gardens were spectacular but we couldn’t fully enjoy them in the pouring rain.
Goat Tower. There were goats inside but they hid when they saw a camera
Summer House in garden
As the rain stopped we ended the tour and entered a hall for the tasting. Quinta da Avelada produces 21M bottles annually, and exports 70% to 70 countries. Two glasses and cheese and biscuits were on the table.
The first wine was Vinho Verde Casa Garcia NV, named after a long serving winery worker. This was made in the old way with added sweetening and pettillance. 9.5% abv, and on sale at €4. This wine is on Scenic Azure’s wine list.
The red was Mandriola de Lisboa 2022, a blend of Syrah, Alicante Bouschet & Touriga National, 3% abv, €5 in the shop.
Back on board the boat set off for Régua during lunch, arrived shortly before 17:30 when we departed for a walking excursion to the Douro Museum. This was a quite interesting modern museum about Douro wine. We learned the difference between Ruby and Tawny Port was a matter of the time spent aging in wooden casks. Tawny Ports spend a minimum of seven years in wood. Port can only be made in Douro, although many similar wines are made in other countries. Agreement with the EU protects the name Port, however because the USA does not recognise Port as a geographic name Porto is used in the USA by genuine Douro Ports.
We finished outside in the museum garden overlooking the river where we could taste white Port on its own or made into a long drink with tonic or lemonade and ice. I expected white Port to be white, but it’s a pinkish-brown as a result of barrel aging and I couldn’t see the point as it didn’t offer as much flavour as normal Port. White Port gets its name because it’s made from white grapes only. There was a much more tasty 20 year-old tawny Port.
View of boat from Port Museum
We remained in Régua overnight. Our cabin faced the riverbank and at some time during the evening Croisi Europe’s Miguel Torga boat was rafted on our outside.
Overnight Location: Régua
https://what3words.com/dozed.sags.bottle
No comments:
Post a Comment