It is not terribly common to find a rose made from popular red grapes from the Douro Valley like Touriga Nacional and Tinta Roriz, but Quinta do Tedo did just that with their rose blend.
This one hits on all the notes we love in a good rose, with a nice balance between fruit and floral notes all around. Not bad at all for its reasonable price point!
After visiting Portugal, we were fully convinced that the best bottles of still wine generally have a hard time making their way out of the country on the export market. The bottles that we do get abroad are, well, simply not a showcase of the potential of the country.
Thankfully, this is changing, and some companies are able to get gems that show off the best of Portugal.
Morgado do Quintao's Branco is one such bottle, and this one, made with Crato Branco (also known as Alva and Roupeiro), is quite the delicious find.
Quinta do Portal was one of our favorite Douro Valley wineries that we got to visit during our trip to Portugal, and naturally many of their bottles made its way home to us when the trip ended.
One such bottle was Quinta do Portal's 20 year tawny port, a lovely bottle that hit all the notes we love in a tawny with strong chocolate covered cherry flavors.
We really do love this one!
When you think of port, odds are good your mind goes to that high-alcohol, intensely sweet, red wine from the Douro Valley.
But the Douro Valley makes more than fortified red wine, and also makes some stellar white ports with the same age indications you would expect from a tawny port (10, 20, 30, and 40 year).
During our visit to the Douro Valley, we were fortunate enough to try several white ports from producers and one, Quinta do Portal, had a truly exceptional 10 year white that we had to bring home with us. After a few years in our cellar, we opened it up to celebrate a birthday!
The Douro Valley in Portugal is known for creating sweet, fortified wines loved the world over. But in recent decades, producers are also using the native grapes of Portugal into creating some intense, full bodied wines.
Quinta do Tedo is one such winery that makes still wines from their grapes, and the Reserva bottle from the Savedra plot is a field blend of roughly two dozen native grapes thrown into one compelling mix.
If you like full-bodied red wines, this one is for you.
The Douro Valley of Portugal is one of the most famous wine regions in the world for its stellar fortified wine, views, and proximity to the city of Porto in northern Portugal.
All of these elements come together to make the region a must-see destination for many travelers to the country. We personally have visited the Douro Valley and consider it to be one of, if not our very favorite, wine region we have ever been to (and we don't make that distinction lightly).
That being said, planning a visit to the Douro Valley can be tricky and there are many important things in mind. So in this Douro Valley wine tour guide we thought we'd share key details that will help you visit the Douro Valley and get the most out of your stay!
We first discovered the Portuguese white grape, Avesso, as part of a wine club we were receiving bottles from. This grape, typically grown in Vinho Verde, really delighted us with a nice complexity of flavor while still having many of the characteristics we love in a refreshing Vinho Verde.
So when we got a chance to try a bottle from Quinta do Ferro, we were really excited to see if it held up to our expectations.
Thankfully, it did!
Most of the Portuguese red wines we tried in the country were intense to say the least. Think high alcohol, high tannin, and pretty in-your-face flavor intensity too.
Whenever we had “light” wines, by Portugal standards at least, we were told to pair them with steak- signaling they are still on the pretty intense side all things considered.
So while we think that Taboadella 1255 Alfrocheira Reserva does fall under the lens of a “light” Portuguese red, you'll do well to keep in mind it really is anything but light in the grand scheme of things.
When we visited wineries in the Douro Valley of Portugal, we knew we would be trying some still wines alongside the fortified wines the region is famous for. There has been a big push in recent years to increase the quality of these wines, so we were excited to see what producers would put out.
While we had some generally good wines, there were only a few bottles we absolutely had to bring home with us.
Quinta do Vallado's Sousao was one such bottle, as this blending grape rarely is seen outside of fortified wines and/or in percentages high enough to be noticeable characteristically. So not only was this single varietal bottle a rare find, it was also simply delicious.
When visiting Portugal, you're going to have no shortage of great wine at your disposal. This country produces amazing wines from north to south, and the Douro Valley wineries are known for producing a unique fortified wine- aptly named Port.
If you can't make it to the Douro Valley on your trip (either via on your own or via a Douro Valley day tour), don't fret. Porto is a hub for all things Port wine due to the region's unique history where winemakers would ship barrels down river to Vila Nova di Gaia (a distinctly separate city just across the river from Porto) for aging and subsequent shipping abroad.
Today, many of the most famous port houses still continue to age their Port wine on the banks of the Douro River and are open to visitors for tours and tastings. The oldest port wine house is Kopke House (founded in 1638) which, not only has one of the smallest tasting rooms in the area, but it was also home to our favorite tasting outright- a premium flight we call the Decade's Flight.
So in this one, we thought we'd share more about Kopke, why you should splurge on this one particular flight, and how to get a table at Casa Kopke at all as this one is quite popular!