Tour The World’s Best Vineyards
Category: Douro Wineries
Quinta de Nápoles, a 74-acre vineyard on an isolated hilltop overlooking the Tedo River, is a beautiful winery owned by the Niepoort Family. Visitors are welcome to enjoy cellar tastings of both their red wine made from the grapes of old port vines as well as numerous port wines themselves. Luís Seabra, the resident winemaker, often leads small groups on tours among the barrels, pulling out batches from various vintages to taste.
Now you can stay with us at our Casa das Pipas located at Quinta do Portal. Apart from learning more about the first demarcated wine region in the world, you can also experience some of the vineyard works, including participating in the harvest. Casa das Pipas has 10 rooms facing south, a big swimming pool and a fitness room. Recently awarded with a national prize on the Best Of Wine Tourism contest!
Quinta Wine represents a wine produced and bottled in a specific terroir (the Quinta), made and selected with great care by its owner, and a guarantee of quality, personality and authenticity, all of which are indispensable qualities for a good wine to become a great wine. Quinta do Côtto is a very refined wine with an intense aroma of wild berries, offering a complex and balanced structure, with a distinctive but smooth presence of tannins. As a young wine it’s quite pleasant to drink, but can also age on the bottle for long years due to its complex and balanced structure.This red wine is produced almost every year from vineyards with 10 years or more, predominantly from the varieties Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz and Touriga Francesa.
The existing manor house of the Quinta is a large and elegant building dating back tp the 18th century, however there are also 15th and 16th century building remnants to be seen. In addition, some middle age ruins exist within the estate that tradition attributes to the first establishment of the owner’s family before the foundation of Portuguese monarchy in 1140. Along with the wine making facilities and vineyards, the manor offers a nice restaurant and will shortly offer 14 luxury rooms in what was once the antique wine cellars.
Situated in the Douro Valley Region (a World Heritage site), Quinta do Panascal is open to everyone wishing to visit one of the most famous quintas in the region. The majestic property is located on the banks of the river Távora. It has the only audio tour available in the region and it has been produced in 9 languages. The tour guides visitors through the vineyards and talks about the history of the company, the estate, the Douro Region and, the famous wines produced by Fonseca Port. In the visitor’s room, which has a dazzling view of the Távora valley, guests are offered a free wine tasting that includes Siroco and BIN nº27 while watching the company’s video.
Taylor’s is over 300 years old and remains a family firm, completely independent, owned by relatives of the original partners. Taylor is accepted by most wine authorities to be the greatest of all port shippers, famous especially for its sublime and long-lived Vintage ports, which consistently fetch the highest prices at auction, and for old, distinguished Tawny ports. Taylor ’s invites you to a pleasant and informative tour of its famous lodges at Vila Nova de Gaia. Afterwards, relax on the terrace, which has magnificent views over the city of Oporto and taste some of our renowned Ports. In addition to the tours, the Visitors’ Center has an attractive Wine Shop and a restaurant which is open for lunch and dinner. Recently the Taylor 1992 was awarded a perfect 100 points from Robert Parker. The 1994 vintage also received 100 points and the Top Wine of the World award from the Wine Spectator.
Founded by Adriano Ramos Pinto in 1880, Casa Ramos Pinto has an illustrious history. The winery was initially used to make wines headed only for South America and Brazil, but due to the extraordinary reputation that developed, it soon became known around Europe. Adriano Ramos was particularly gifted at marketing and started a campaign using his famous Ramos-Pinto posters, which to this day grace wine shops all over the world. Mr. Ramos was an accomplished artist and his paintings on the labels became famous throughout Europe in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.
The warehouse where the visit begins, with its entrance in the Riverside Avenue, was acquired in 1876. In the reception room decorated with the celebrated painting of Dona Antónia, the visitors may enjoy a description of the characteristics of the Douro region, with a relief map referring to the location of our Vineyards and Wineries. As visitors pass through the lodges with their calm atmosphere of soft light and cool temperature, the various operations and processes that contribute to the production of Port Wine are shown in their slow and precious ageing methods.
We welcome visitors to our sites, and our award-winning guides will show you around the atmospheric, chilly cellars where Sandeman is produced, and you can taste the characteristic woody air of the bodega and feel the atmosphere of 200 years of noble wines. Douro Quinta do Seixo located in the Cima-corgo, in the heart of the Douro Valley DOC, Sandeman’s guides can take you on a tour around the cellars, show you the production processes that have been used over the centuries and how they have evolved. There is a stunning view of the river Douro to admire, whilst you taste a specially selected range of our finest wines.
You’ll receive a multilingual guided tour amid the huge vats and casks of the 19th Century cellars, a chance to linger in the Wine Museum, and taste samples of two port wines in Cálem’s attractive tasting room. If you want to purchase Cálem wines and related gifts that might be hard to obtain at home, you’re welcome to do so, but there’s no pressure to buy.
