THE WINES OF NORTHERN PORTUGAL

Northern Portugal is wine country.

A private food and wine trip that immerses you in the heart of the Dão and Douro River wine regions and in the historic city of Porto. The Dão wine region is little known but coming onto the radar due to young innovative winemakers using native grapes, in many cases from old vines. One thing we love about the region is that you feel like you’re in on a secret, early. Then it’s on to the Douro Valley whose stunning visitas and historic quintas–family wineries–bring visitors from across the globe. You’ll see why, once you see the Douro River views. And notably, the region makes Port, of course, but also red and white Douro DOC wines that compete on the world stage. Fantastic food throughout and luxury hotels on this private trip.

Porto → Dão → Douro → Porto

☾ 7 Nights

THE WINES OF NORTHERN PORTUGAL

Porto → Dão → Douro → Porto

☾ 7 Nights

DAY 1 INTO THE DÃO

Head into the Dão, a region home to pure Portuguese culture and fine wine. It’s fine dining for lunch at Mesa de Lemos, a local-obsessed restaurant (and winery) that holds Dão’s only Michelin star. After lunch, get to know Dão’s whites and reds with a visit to Caminhos Cruzados. Enjoy Hotel Valverde Santar’s countryside charms before dinner at the hotel’s restaurant.

DAY 2 DÃO WINE COUNTRY

Dive into Dão wines at the region’s premier wineries bordering the slightly off-piste Serra da Estrela. The sloping vineyards grown at the base of the mountains here provide grapes for the most complex red and white Dão wines. Visit two top producers to discover the wines that are making Dão famous today before a traditional lunch in the Serra da Estrela mountains. Along the way, you’ll pair wines with Serra da Estrela sheep cheese, one of Portugal’s most acclaimed cheeses.

DAY 3 DOURO HISTORY & TRADITIONS

Drive to Lamego, a city locals proudly call “the capital of Port Wine”. One of the oldest cities in Portugal, Lamego is noticeably serene. Once you’ve seen the views from the Santuário da Senhora dos Remédios atop the hill, detour to the medieval Tower of Ucanha before a traditional family lunch in a private home. A river cruise on the Douro River to Regua where you’ll be picked up and escorted to your base of operations for three nights, the stunning Quinta da Vacaria.

DAY 4 DOURO WINE EXPLORATION

Today you’ll dive headfirst into the best of Douro wine. Start at Wine & Soul, a small winery making Douro wines with a worldwide impact. Relax into a grilling-focused fine dining lunch at Bomfim 1896 paired with Symington’s top Douro wines. Stop at Quinta das Carvalhas for tasting and some of the region’s best views.

WHERE YOU’LL STAY

Hotel Valverde Santar

This luxury countryside getaway sits in the heart of the Dão wine region. Hotel Valverde Santar is a 5-star Relais & Chateaux property in Santar. There is a Michelin recommended restaurant on site, Memórias, as well as casual bar and poolside options for meals and snacks. Cooking classes are available with Chef Luís Almeida, head of the kitchen at Memórias restaurant.

The hotel was a home of the Portuguese royal family, and the common areas still exude that old-world charm. The hotel’s extensive gardens are part of the interconnected restored Santar gardens which are a series of five historic gardens belonging to four families.

All rooms have been tastefully updated to luxury standards, retaining historic charm. There is a spa with treatment rooms, a heated indoor pool, a sauna, Turkish bath and ice fountain. Massages are available by appointment. Private and group yoga and pilates classes are available for a fee. There is also an outdoor pool.

☾ 2 Nights

Torel Quinta da Vacaria

Quinta da Vacaria is a 1 Michelin-Key luxury property in the heart of the Douro. The elegantly designed 5-star winery hotel feels in harmony with the landscape and offers stunning views of the Douro River and riverside hills. Even the rooms have their own terraces with views. The hotel is surrounded by vineyards, said to be some of the oldest in the Douro, producing Quinta da Vacaria DOC Douro and Port wines that you can enjoy during your stay.

In a region of hilly winding roads, dining in offers a welcome respite from the curves. Quinta da Vacaria offers three on-site options. 16 Legoas serves modern regional dishes in a relaxed environment; Barbus, the classy bar with views over the Douro River specializing in an extensive Champagne menu and light snacks; and superstar Chef Vitor Matos’s fine dining Shistó, which has a 10-course tasting menu. Chef Matos holds 5 Michelin stars across his restaurants in Porto and Lisbon.

Don’t miss the vinotherapy spa, where you can unwind with the rejuvenating water circuit, a heated indoor pool, sauna, Turkish bath, sensory Vichy showers, treatment rooms, relaxation rooms and a vinotherapy room. You can choose from an extensive menu of massages and spa treatments.

☾ 3 Nights

The Yeatman

The 5-star Yeatman Hotel sits across the river from Porto in Vila Nova de Gaia. One of its claims to fame- the views of the Douro River and of Porto, stunning as the sun goes down. The hotel is an eternal favorite because of its impeccable service and classic old-world style.

The dining possibilities at the Yeatman range from Michelin star dining to the wine bar with snacks. The 2-Michelin star Yeatman Gastronomic Restaurant has a tasting menu. The 8th floor Orangerie Restaurant offers a la carte selections and features a large terrace with views over Porto. It’s open 7 days a week. Dick's Bar & Bistro has a selection of Ports by the bottle and by the glass as well as Portuguese wines by the glass. There is a snack menu to accompany the wines.

The Yeatman notably has one of the best wine cellars in all of Portugal. Nearly adjacent to the hotel is Taylor’s winery and tasting room for fine, maybe the finest, old Tawnies.

The wine spa at the Yeatman has an indoor pool, treatment rooms, a traditional sauna and an infrared sauna, a Turkish bath, an ice fountain, a halotherapy room, Roman bath and heated stone beds.

☾ 2 Nights

WHERE YOU’LL GO

PORTUGAL

Portugal is a nation shaped by the Atlantic. The beaches of the Algarve, Lisbon and Porto’s proximity to the sea and history of trade, wine regions from Setúbal to Vinho Verde, the sea is there. Perhaps the openness of a seafaring nation is what makes Portugal such a great place to visit. Traditions are alive here, and people will be happy to show them to you with pride. The rarified exists as well, but even there chefs are never too busy to talk and winemakers will invite you to eat with the family. Snobbishness is a rarity; the opposite is much more common. Maybe that’s why it’s taken so long for the rest of the world to discover Portugal: they were too humble to tell everyone what amazing treasures they had. Lisbon is a true jewel, with its hills overlooking a sea of red roofs bathed by Atlantic freshness. Porto feels frozen in time, until you see the amazing new hotels, restaurants, and port lodges. And the wine, where to start? If you want to taste some of the best-kept secrets in Europe made from grapes you can neither place nor pronounce, there’s no better place. 

DÃO WINE REGION

Dão is perhaps Portugal’s most exciting wine region at the moment. Surrounded by mountains on three sides and featuring granite soils, this region of northern Portugal has a long history of producing fine red wines. Its potential is only now being realized, as local producers and outside stars experiment with a range of excellent indigenous grapes and a geography of rivers and forests that creates immense variation from one vineyard to another. Red wines blending Portuguese star grape Touriga Nacional, Alfrocheiro, Jaen (Mencía in Spain) and Tinta Roriz (Spain’s Tempranillo) are among the best in Portugal, subtle and aromatic but with great aging potential. The Dão is also home to Encruzado, a white grape quickly gaining fame for its ability to produce deep, complex aged whites when matured in oak. Dão may finally be claiming its position as Portugal’s premier region for unfortified wine production.

THE DOURO RIVER VALLEY

The Douro is easily the most dramatic wine region in the world. And stunningly beautiful. The riverbanks, covered in near-vertical sloping vineyards that look impossible, rise thousands of feet above the Douro River. Whitewashed quintas–winery manor houses– punctuate the hilltops, offering incredible views across the valley. The roads wind their way through the hills, making even short journeys scenic and painfully slow. The Douro is where Port comes from, and Port is perhaps the greatest sweet wine ever produced. It’s also the source of Douro wines, dry wines which 30 years on have staked a claim among the most respected wines in Portugal. It’s a seemingly impossible place to grow grapes and make wine, but today, as in centuries past, the quality of the Douro terroir seems to justify the effort.

PORT & DOURO WINES

The Douro is the source for Portugal’s two most important wines. The first and by far the most storied is Port, the sweet wine that has been made from Douro grapes and aged in Porto for centuries. British wine shippers popularized the wine and named it with a shortened version of the name of the city of Porto. Today, Port remains atop the world of sweet wine, particularly vintage and tawny Ports. Vintage Port is a powerful, sweet fortified red wine that is built to age for decades in bottle before being consumed, while tawny does its aging in large barrels in the cavernous cellars of Vila Nova de Gaia and develops into a golden elixir with the years. Quality examples of both types are some of the best wines in the world and will dispel any preconceptions one might harbor about sweet wines.

Douro wines are a different beast entirely. In the 1990s, a group of producers known as the Douro Boys brought dry wines from the Douro Valley to global attention with their unique and complex bottlings. The same exceptional vineyards that produced the grapes for the best vintage Ports turned out to be exceptional for making powerful red wines that were unlike any other in the world. In the last three decades, Douro reds have become the most interesting and appreciated Portuguese wines on the market. The extreme slopes, varied soils and harsh climate of this valley combine with a wealth of local grape varieties to produce wines that range from fruity and delicious to intense and enormous. Even the whites from the region are becoming better and more diverse every year.

There’s something for everyone in the Douro, an essential stop for every wine traveler.

PORTO

Port country is two places in one connected by the Douro River itself. The city of Porto lies where the river empties into the Atlantic. Built up the steep river banks, Portugal’s second city has a sleepy, forgotten enchantment to it that helps explain its recent renaissance. 

New luxury hotels have sprung up in restored old buildings. The restaurant scene, never as dynamic as Lisbon’s, is looking formidable now. Central Porto is relaxed even in spite of the recent influx of visitors; it’s remarkably easy to lose track of time here. 

When you emerge from the winding streets that lead from the river up to “downtown” Porto you can see across to Vila Nova de Gaia, ground zero for port wine. The most famous sweet wine in the world has been aged in this town for hundreds of years. The British were the shippers, lending their names to the signs that light up the night sky and the bottles that line shop windows: Sandeman, Warre’s, Taylor’s, Graham’s, whose storehouses are filled with barrels black from  decades aging port. Yet if you head out of Porto looking for the vineyards, you’ll have to go way up-river before finding them, to the Douro Valley.

BEHIND THE SCENES

DAY 1 - INTO THE DÃO

Lunch at Mesa de Lemos (1 Michelin star)

One of the latest additions to Portugal’s Michelin-star lineup, Mesa de Lemos is built atop the excellent Dão winery Quinta de Lemos. The modern building offers views over the surrounding vineyards and benefits from marvelous attention to detail in its design. Chef Diogo Rocha is a local and an advocate for local and regional products in his cuisine. You’ll find fruits, vegetables, olive oil, and other  products from the estate in dishes on the menu. You’ll have the chance to pair your tasting menu with wines from Quinta de Lemos, or other Dão wines, which will make for a great introduction to the wines of the Dão. Mesa de Lemos is Portugal’s newest destination restaurant, a world away from the bustle of the city.

Caminhos Cruzados Winery Visit

Caminhos Cruzados is one of the stars of the new generation of wineries that has helped bring attention to the Dão in the last few decades. The local Santos family decided to invest in winemaking in their region, buying quality vineyards and building a gleaming modern winery to craft their blends. Today, they have one of the strongest lineups of top-quality Dão wines. The local red grape, Touriga Nacional, and the white, Encruzado, form the basis of a line of complex wines that have proven themselves to be versatile and age-worthy.

Dinner at Hotel Valverde Santar

Memórias, Hotel Valverde Santar’s elegant restaurant, serves creative dishes using the best products of central Portugal. Chef Luis Almeida is a star in the area and has helped develop the cuisine of Dão to its current heights. Many of the products used here come from the property’s garden. Opt for a tasting menu or order à la carte for a relaxing dinner. The wine list is superlative, full of small producers from the surrounding Dão wine region and great bottles from across Portugal.

DAY 2 - DÃO WINE COUNTRY

Casa da Passarella winery visit

In the foothills of the Serra da Estrela, Casa da Passarella is a winery packed with history. The estate predates the creation of the Dão wine region in 1908, and has long been famed for producing some of the region’s finest wines. The manor house, surrounded by vineyards, brings to mind the days before anyone outside Portugal had heard of the Dão. Today, the new and the old combine to create numerous excellent wines here. Superstar winemaker Paulo Nunes is in charge of winemaking. The wines take advantage of the cool climate and high elevation of the area to make fresh and elegant wines. The single vineyard wines from Passarella are premium gems, and the winery continues to release some wines with many years of aging as was done in the Dão for generations. Nunes is working with half-forgotten traditional Dão grapes like Tinta Amarela and Tinta Carvalha. A visit to the winery and a tasting of rare wines offers a glimpse of Dão’s grandeur and immense potential as a fine wine region.

Textura Wines Winery Visit

The exciting new-school Dão producer Textura Wines is based at the foot of the Serra da Estrela mountains. This is the area known for producing the finest red and white wines from native grapes like red Touriga Nacional and white Encruzado. Textura Wines has a simple philosophy: older vines of native grapes planted in ideal locations to make wines that express the terroir of Dão in a sustainable, low-intervention way. In under a decade, this dream has become a reality, thanks to old vineyards and the talents of winemaker Luís Seabra of Douro fame. The wealth of wines to try at Textura includes whites and reds made from typical Dão blends and grapes grown on local granite soil. As a bonus, the winery is located in a converted textile factory, transmitting the historic flavor of the Serra de Estrela’s history.

Traditional Lunch at O Albertino in Gouveia

Head to the pretty mountain village of Gouveia in the Serra da Estrela for lunch at O Albertino, one of the town’s arch-traditional eateries where hearty country cooking is on the menu and portions are never small. This family restaurant serves hearty local dishes in a sprawling converted stone house in the village. Among the meat specialties expect roast suckling pig and local game. Of course, the world-famous Serra da Estrela sheep’s milk cheese will make an appearance. You will eat as the Portuguese love to do it, away from the bright lights of the city. Pair your food with Dão wines from just down the road.

Dinner at Hotel Valverde Santar

DAY 3 - DOURO HISTORY & TRADITIONS

Lamego

Drive to Lamego, a city locals proudly call “the capital of Port Wine”. One of the oldest cities in Portugal, Lamego is noticeably serene. Once you’ve seen the views from the Santuário da Senhora dos Remédios atop the hill, detour to see the medieval Tower of Ucanha. Heading into the Douro River Valley, stop for a traditional family lunch in a private home.

Private Douro River Cruise

Head over to the village of Pinhão and catch the boat for a private cruise on the Douro River. You’ll cruise down the river to Regua near your hotel. Step off the boat and be whisked away to your home base at Quinta da Vacaria where you’ll spend three nights.

DAY 4 - DOURO WINE EXPLORATION

Wine & Soul Winery Visit & Premium Tasting

Wine & Soul is a leading new winery forming part the dry unfortified DOC Douro wine movement. The other wineries that have added non Port wines to their portfolio are historic Port producers. Husband and wife winemaking team Sandra and Jorge launched onto the scene with Pintas, a red wine from a tiny plot of old field blend vines in the hills above Pinhão. Pintas made waves quickly, and today it’s consistently ranked among Douro’s best reds. The couple sought out other old vines to make red and white wines, including the ethereal Guru white and Pintas Character red, before adding Jorge’s family estate at Quinta da Manoella to their portfolio. This historic winery gave them even more old vines, in particular those that make Quinta da Manoella VV, another elite Douro red. With a focus on a light winemaking touch, native grapes and old vines, Wine & Soul has made a name for itself as an essential winery in a region full of centenarian names. They’ve even begun bottling very fine Port wines. This is a vision of the cutting edge and future of Douro wine.

Lunch at Bomfim 1896

Symington’s Quinta do Bomfim winery is home to the latest opening from Portuguese star chef Pedro Lemos. The restaurant occupies one of the most privileged positions in the Douro Valley. The elegantly furnished luminous dining room offers views of the Douro River and hillside vineyards through plate glass windows. On the menu, sensible, product-focused cuisine with Michelin star technique. The heart of the restaurant is the wood-fired oven and grill, a throwback to the traditional kitchens of the Douro Valley. Most dishes are cooked over wood, and the kitchen is open to the restaurant for the curious diner to watch the flames. The menu is short and seasonal, focused on highlighting the best Portuguese ingredients and their pure flavors–local vegetables, fish and seafood from the nearby Atlantic and the finest meat from the interior. The wine list is a plus, bringing together excellent dry wines from the Douro and other Portuguese regions with a truly world-class Port list thanks to Symington’s ownership of more than their fair share of great houses. This is a welcome addition to the Douro’s fine dining landscape.

Quinta das Carvalhas Winery Tasting

Quinta das Carvalhas is a Douro outpost of Real Companhia Velha, one of the oldest Port houses in Porto. Carvalhas has been at the center of RCV’s transformation from classic Port into the world of fine DOC Douro wines. Their vineyards have become proving grounds for a growing collection of acclaimed red and white wines. It doesn’t hurt that the quinta is in a beautiful spot, but the wines here are serious. Taste top RCV Douro wines made from indigenous grapes for a window into contemporary (and excellent) Douro. Bonus: drive up through the vineyards to a hilltop viewpoint over the Douro Valley.

Dinner at the Hotel’s Bar Barbus or 16 Légoas Restaurant

Head to the hotel’s bar Barbus for snacks, wine, Champagne or cocktails or 16 Légoas which offers a menu of updated Portuguese cuisine.

DAY 5 - DOURO NO FILTERS

Today is all about tasting wines away from the main roads. Small producers, forgotten terraces, family vineyards, and wineries that keep their best wines away from the mainstream circuit. Visit 4 or 5 estates, tasting wines at each and enjoying traditional snacks, charcuterie and regional specialties along the way.

Dinner at Castas e Pratos

Castas e Pratos is a wine enjoyer’s destination in the Douro. The converted space in Peso da Régua’s old train terminal hosts this restaurant and wine bar where you can eat and drink stunningly well. Start with the wine list, and you may never finish, because Castas e Pratos has more Douro and Port wines than most could try in a lifetime. From tiny local producers as well as legendary houses come bottlings in every color and at every price. Whether you want to try a rare wine impossible to find outside Douro or the Douro’s most legendary labels, you can do it here. The food is some of the best in the area, modern yet satisfying Portuguese dishes with creative touches.

DAY 6 - EXPLORING PORTO

Porto Walking Tour

Your guide will pick you up for a tour of Porto. Visit downtown Porto, the blue and white Portuguese tile-laden São Bento train station, and the old-world streets of the city.

Porto Food Tour Lunch

Your walking tour will become a food tour for lunch. Taste traditional products along the way, paired with wine.

Dinner at Apego

In a stone-walled little space in the center of Porto, Apego serves updated and technically refined Portuguese cuisine. It’s a cozy restaurant, with couches lining the wall and dark wood accenting against stone. You feel at home as soon as you sit down. The short menu changes with the seasons and the market. To drink, choose from a short but select wine list with a special focus on artisan Portuguese growers.

DAY 7 - LUNCH ON THE ATLANTIC & THE ULTIMATE PORT LODGE

Matosinhos Fish Market Tour

Matosinhos is a small fishing town on the coast outside of Porto where the city’s chefs buy their fish. The Portuguese fish-canning industry once dominated here, but today only a few producers remain. Fresh fish is what Matosinhos is known for today. See the local fishermen’s catch at the Matosinhos fish market

Lunch at Casa de Chá da Boa Nova (2 Michelin Stars)

Built on the rocks overlooking the Atlantic, Casa de Chá da Boa Nova (2 Michelin stars) is one of Portugal’s most exciting restaurants and also an architectural marvel. The modern building, originally built as a tea house in 1962 by legendary Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza, offers a window to the ocean that would make it worth a visit on its own.

Chef Rui Paula, one of northern Portugal’s most important figures in the food world, has made Casa de Chá his flagship. The menu focuses squarely on the bounty of the Portuguese Atlantic, with stunning seafood and fish dishes where every detail is carefully crafted. This is a restaurant to relax into, where you’ll want to lean back after your meal and reflect. No one wants to leave, and many stay on out on the terrace watching the ocean waves bathe the rocks below the restaurant.

Port Lodge Visit & Premium Tasting

Have the ultimate private port tasting at our favorite port lodge that has some of Porto’s oldest and most revered ports. Old tawnies, colheitas, vintage ports.

Dinner at The Orangerie at The Yeatman Hotel (Optional)

The Orangerie is the less formal restaurant of The Yeatman Hotel, bringing together the culinary excellence of chef Ricardo Costa (2 Michelin stars at The Yeatman Gastronomic Restaurant) and some of the best views in Porto. The outdoor terrace overlooks Porto’s old town and the roofs of Vila Nova de Gaia’s Port houses. A menu featuring the subtle, complex dishes characteristic of Costa’s cooking pairs perfectly with a wine list full of superb bottles from the Yeatman’s overflowing cellar.

DAY 8 - DEPARTURE

Private transfer to the Porto airport for departure

DETAILS

WHAT’S INCLUDED

• 7 nights hotel, double occupancy, breakfast daily, expert private guides, private tours, lunches with wine, concierge custom-selected wines to taste at each winery, restaurant concierge service and all restaurant reservations, private luxury transport

DISTILLED SELECTIONS FROM EPICUREAN WAYS

We pride ourselves on our discerning taste in hotels, a concierge approach to restaurants for you, and our long experience in the world of wine enabling us to select wineries worth visiting and arrange premium tastings at each winery.

NOT INCLUDED

• flights to/from Portugal, gratuities to guides and drivers , travel insurance (recommended)

WINERY VISITS, RESTAURANT SELECTIONS AND HOTELS

All tours, experiences and hotels are subject to availability and will be confirmed upon booking the trip.

You will be accompanied by a driver-guide during your wine touring. Your visits and tastings will be private and with the winemaker, a family member or an expert who knows the winery and the wines well. We work with the wineries to make sure that you taste the best and most representative wines during each visit. It is sometimes possible to arrange extended tastings that include old vintages or rare wines. We have an extensive group of wineries whose owners we know and with whom we work regularly, so we can guarantee high-level visits even if a winery has to be substituted. If you have an interest in visiting a particular producer please let us know.

We include restaurant concierge service as part of your trip. Note that our restaurant suggestions are just that–suggestions. Places we love, places to go back to time after time. We recommend these places after years of experience eating in Spain and Portugal together with frequent research and input from our local partners. We aspire to guide your choices with information on the styles of cuisine and restaurants; the choice on where to eat is yours based on your preferences and desires.

We have extensive experience with hotels ranging from 5-star luxury properties to private boutique hotels. Let us know your preferences and we will tailor the hotel choices for you.

TRIP CUSTOMIZATION

Note that we can customize this trip for you. Add days in your arrival or departure city or in other locations or make changes to the experiences, winery visits, restaurants, or hotels included in the trip. Whatever it is, we’re here to work with you. Once you’re happy with the trip plan and have some idea of your dates we will calculate and send you the price.