In a relatively short period of time the Douro region has established itself as Portugal’s premium wine region. Located behind the city of Porto, the rolling hills and scenic vineyards make this the most visited area for oenophiles.

The region, named after the Douro River that runs through it, is one of the most beautiful areas within the country. It’s hard to overstate the scale and pace of change that is currently taking place in this most spectacular of wine regions. The steeply terraced vineyards contain some wonderful terroirs, but because of the economic dominance of the Port trade, it is only recently that these have been widely exploited to produce premium wines. The Douro River runs eastwards into Spain, and is lined with Winery Estates (Quintas), castles and tourist lodges, all of which that can be reached via boat tour.

There is both a Port Wine Travel Route and a Gastronomic Route within the area set up by the Portuguese Tourism bureau. The Port Wine Route was created in 1996 with 54 registered wine making operations. This allows tourists to find and visit wineries, taste and buy wines and witness wine making in progress.

Wine tourism is a growing trend in Portugal, improved greatly by the flood of visitors in the past ten years. Portugal has always had a reputation of being avid food lovers, and this is not in error. With a large coastline, it is not surprising that seafood is front and foremost on most menus from the Algarve up to the Spanish border. Inland, the large rural population has long held a great respect for the cultivation of fine pork and beef as well as an abundance of vegetables. As with most European countries, there is also great pride in the local cheese industry. From the earliest of days, the Portuguese have produced fine cheeses running the gamut from rich and savory to spicy and dry. Combined with the blossoming wine industry, this is a great country to visit for all food and wine aficionados. Portugal has many beautiful, historic cities such as Lisbon, Sintra, Oporto and Coimbra in addition to the beautiful red rock beaches in the touristy Algarve.

Please excuse the work in progess nature of this section of the website. I am working on creating the information. If you have any suggestions as respects wineries, restaurants, hotels, B&B’s, Inns or tour operators within the Douro region of Portugal, please forward to me at rich@Sunflowerwinetours.com

Thank you for your patience.