Valley Vistas

On the morning of March 2 we crossed Porto's iconic Ponte Luis I bridge and zig-zagged our way to the Avenida de Diogo Leite that runs along the opposite bank of the Douro River and is home to a string of "Caves" - or wine cellars - for many of the famous and not so famous Port wine makers. It was way too early for port tasting, but the good news was that there was a string of street vendors with local crafts and other wares along the river bank. 

For Nancy, shoes are a passion; so it was easy to say yes to a pair of naturally waterproof sandals, hand-crafted from cork - a Portuguese specialty crop.

We set off for our next stop - a night at a port winery in the Douro valley. Along the way we passed through the Marão Tunnel - the longest one we've ever travelled at 3.5 miles. After driving about an hour and a half we reached the town of Peso da Régua and the start of a stretch of the N-222 that has earned the reputation as "the road that offers the best driving experience in the world". It did not disappoint as it wound its way along the bank of the Douro river and offered amazing views of mountains in the background, rolling hills dotted with red-tiled roof villages that hug the hilltops, and carefully terraced vineyards that ripple down the hillsides.

Finally we reached our destination - Quinta do Tedo - a port winery situated at the confluence of the Douro and Tedo rivers in the heart of the UNESCO World Heritage site of Alto Douro. Nancy was immediately taken with their logo that features a black bird - a special McCabe family symbol. We checked into the nicely-appointed "Ruby" room overlooking the Tedo river, made arrangements for a Port Wine tasting in the late afternoon and, at the hostess' recommendation, headed back to Peso da Régua to enjoy lunch at Limonete, much more than a pizzeria. We were for sure the only tourists in this local favorite - one table had at least ten guys sampling a collection of local ports - talk about a liquid lunch. Nancy had a grilled salmon filet that was moist and crispy in all the right places. Richard had an enormous lamb chop accompanied by freshly fried potato chips and topped with an egg, sunny-side-up.

The huge lunch called for a quick afternoon nap before our port wine tasting appointment. Our tour guide walked us through the process of making "Vinho do Porto" that to this day still starts with grapes being stomped on by bare-footed workers in a huge concrete vat. We learned about many varieties of port: a super-sweet Rosé, the bright red Ruby, the barrel-aged Tawny with various ages, the prized bottle-aged Ruby Vintage, and the "Late Bottled Vintage" (LBV). Because we were guests at the Quinta, our guide treated us to 2 extra tastes, one of which was a 20 Year Tawny that we ended up carrying home a bottle of. Richard and the guide agreed that, when you think of port, tawny is the flavor you most associate with it. 

For dinner we decided to have one of our "Duvet Picnics"...a nice bottle of wine with some local cheeses and olives, with some fresh fruit and GF crackers or bread, spread out on a towel on the bed while we watched an episode of "Silent Witness" - our new favorite British crime drama - on Richard's laptop. Traveller tip: you'll likely need to invest in a VPN app, like ExpressVPN, when outside the US. Streaming services will often detect that you are out of the country and won't allow you to use them. The VPN software allows you to choose where you are "virtually" located.

Our stay at Quinta do Tedo included a wonderful breakfast overlooking the Tedo river: coffee and tea, freshly squeezed juice, fruit salad, Iberian hams, local cheeses, and more. Eggs were even available on request, but we had no room left. After breakfast we strolled out into the vineyards...bird songs danced in the air and the sweet smell of the early spring wafted over us. We took it all in before saying goodbye to Portugal and setting off on the next leg of our journey headed for northwestern Spain.

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