Portugal

Colinas de Sao Lourenco Principal Grande Reserva 2011 Review

During our travels in Portugal, we were fortunate enough to taste many high-end wines at wineries and via multi-course tasting experiences at restaurants like Belcanto, DOC, and The Yeatman.

One such wine we were able to try at these dinners was the Principal Grande Reserva 2011 which was one of the most memorable pours we had on the entire trip.

Naturally, when we went wine shopping on our last day at Garrafeira Nacional (perhaps the best wine store in Lisbon), we found a bottle of this one and had to buy it to bring home.

It did not last long in our cellar after that.

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Kopke 1985 Colheita Review – A Lovely 36 Year Port

When we visited Portugal in 2021, we naturally had to go tasting at the many Douro Valley wineries as well as the port houses of Vila Nova di Gaia just across the river from Porto.

One such port house we fell in love with was Kopke. Not only is this one said to be the oldest port house in the area (founded in 1638), but it is also one of the smallest, most popular, and ended up being home to one of our favorite tastings- a decades flight featuring Colheita ports from the 1960s to present spaced apart by roughly 10-year intervals.

This flight really helped us learn how flavors of tawny ports change in the barrel over time and also let us find our sweet spot of flavors we personally enjoy (generally 20 to 30 years old which works out well as prices generally spike from there).

Naturally, when we bought wine at Garrafiera Nacional in Lisbon before flying home, we had to stock up on many bottles of Kopke for our cellar. We originally wanted to pick up a bottle from our birth year (1986), but as this was not available we went one year prior and picked up a Kopke 1985 to bring home.

We opened it the following spring to celebrate our 36th birthdays because it seemed fitting to celebrate with a port that also spent 36 years in the barrel!

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6 of the Best Wineries in the Douro Valley to Visit

The Douro Valley in Portugal is one of the most awe-inspiring places we've been to. Not only is it the oldest demarcated wine region in the world, we'd take it one step further and also call it the prettiest wine region in the world too. Douro Valley vineyards are really something else!

While getting around the Douro Valley is so challenging that a Douro Valley day tour may be a better option for most (as driving there is, in a word, terrifying), we put our fears aside and hit six great Douro Valley wineries during our two-and-a-half-day visit.

So in this one, we thought we'd share more about the wineries we were able to see!

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Quinta do Portal Grande Reserva 2016 Review – High Praise Abound

During our travels around Portugal, we had two kinds of red wines. The first was intense, hot climate reds that were loaded with tannin and out of balance with the other flavor characteristics. The second had the same intensity but managed to find the perfect balance to make them enjoyable.

Quinta do Portal's Grande Reserva was most certainly the latter. This wine sings.

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Quinta do Ferro Sparkling Seco NV – Lovely Portuguese Sparkling

As far as Portuguese grapes are concerned, Avesso is a bit of an unsung hero. Part of it is simply because it is delicious (routinely one of my favorite whites from the country) but also that the production is quite limited- just a few vineyards even grow this grape at all!

So when we say it was quite rare to find a sparkling Avesso, made in the traditional method, from Quinta do Ferro, we really mean it.

We were fortunate enough to meet up with one of the owners from Quinta do Ferro when in Portugal thanks to an introduction by our local wine school, and we were able to bring a bottle of the Ferro Sparkling home with us courtesy of the winery. Naturally, it lasted about a month in our house before we had to open it because, you know, we love Avesso (and also had reasons to celebrate with family- so double win).

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Ramilo Arinto 2017 Review – Fruity, Salinity, and Minerality

When it comes to Portuguese whites, you really can be all over the place in terms of what you get. But for us, one of our favorite white grapes is Arinto thanks to its high acidity, rich flavor profile, and salinity/minerality that really works with seafood dishes.

Ramilo's Arinto was no different, and this one worked beautifully with sous vide octopus!

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Quinta do Tedo 20 Year Tawny Port Review – All The Flavor

Quinta do Tedo is a stellar winery in the Douro Valley that we were fortunate enough to visit in 2021. While this one is among the younger producers out there (by Douro standards at least), they do have a healthy mix of still and port wines, with their tawny line starting to creep into the 20+ year mark.

Naturally, we sampled a 20 year tawny here and quite enjoyed it such that we brought a bottle back with us to share with friends. It didn't last long.

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Why You Should Take a Douro Day Tour Over Driving

The Douro Valley is, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful wine regions we've ever been to (you could also drop the wine qualifier entirely, it would be just as stunning without the grapes). We had a feeling this was going to be the case even before we arrived, and it only took a few minutes of driving around the area to really affirm that viewpoint.

As such, we consider this wine region a must-visit spot for anyone who is even remotely interested in wine- from a novice who simply likes to have a glass now and again to the most professional sommelier. That being said, when it comes to actually exploring the Douro Valley, well, you may run into issues.

To put it bluntly, driving in the Douro Valley is terrifying, and this is one place where taking a tour may make sense for many, many visitors.

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Garrafeira Nacional is a Must Visit Wine Store in Lisbon

When we booked a vacation to Portugal, we knew we were going to be bringing a number of bottles of still wine and port home with us.

What we didn't know prior to departing was where we would be buying our bottles specifically. Purchases at wineries were a given, of course, but we had allocated enough room in our suitcases to do some last-minute shopping at a great wine store in Lisbon before flying home as well.

As it turns out, our friends 2 Food Trippers (who live in Lisbon) came through in recommending an incredible store with a great selection and some of the best prices we saw in the entire country. This was Garrafeira Nacional, a store that has been in business for almost 100 years, now with several locations in the heart of Lisbon proper including one in the Time Out Market and another just a few blocks from the Santa Justa lift.

If you're doing any sort of wine shopping in Lisbon, this really is the only place you need to visit.

Note: Photos and commentary in this article are primarily based on the Santa Justa location. However, the Time Out Market location, albeit a bit smaller, is also a stellar little outpost as well.

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When Buying a Colheita Port, Check the Bottling Date

Before visiting Portugal, I felt like I had a rather robust understanding of all things port and the differences between styles like ruby, tawny, vintage, LBV, and the like thanks to taking WSET Level 3 (and of course, somewhat frequent samplings at home).

It wasn't until arriving that I learned more about another style of port that I found I was less familiar with. This was Colheita port, a subcategory of tawny that includes a vintage year on the bottle as opposed to a more general age indication like you'd normally expect (10, 20, 30 years, etc).

As Colheita ports play off of labeling from conventional tawny and vintage ports, it isn't surprising that some wineries do not paint the clearest picture when describing it to consumers. It didn't take long for us to pick up on one very important caveat- the bottling date matters.

So unless you know to look for that crucial piece of information when buying a bottle, well, you may not be getting what you think you are!

If you were just as surprised by this as I was, this article is for you. In this one, I thought it'd be fun to share the breakdown between Colheita and tawny ports. While quite similar in theory, in practice they can be quite different. You're quickly going to find out why that caveat is so important.

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