Port wine cellars in Porto (Vila Nova de Gaia)

Captain Ulysses is quite the epicurean and could not miss the famous Port wine cellars nestled in Vila Nova de Gaia, accross from Porto, on the other side of the Douro. If you too enjoy good food and good wine, you’ll undoubtedly love visiting the port wine cellars of Vila Nova de Gaia! Follow the guide!

Content
👉 Visiting the Porto’s port wine cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia
👉 Brief history of Port wine
👉 How is Port wine made?
👉 What are the different types of Port wine?
👉 What about the vineyards?
👉 Shopping

Visit Porto’s port wine cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia

Where are the port cellars located?

The vast majority of the cellars are located in the municipality of Vila Nova de Gaia, opposite Porto’s Ribeira district, across the Douro.

You can easily walk to Vila Nova de Gaia (take the Dom Luis I Bridge) or take the metro.

The Port wine cellars are mostly located on the banks of the Douro, but some, such as Taylor’s, Graham’s, Croft or Cockburn’s are a little further away.

Which port wine cellars should you visit?

The cellars of Vila Nova de Gaia belong to some forty merchant companies, which own a total of 200 port brands (and account for 90% of the market ).

Suffice to say that there are plenty of cellars to visit… too much even! Faced with this profusion of cellars, it can be hard to decide which to visit. This is why Captain Ulysses has selected a few Port wine cellars which he warmly recommends!

The Captain’s favorite Port wine cellars in Porto/Vila Nova de Gaia

• Taylor’s

Head for the heights of Vila Nova de Gaia, a fifteen-minute walk from the Dom Luis I Bridge, opposite the iconic hotel The Yeatman (where Captain Ulysses also recommends staying if you can afford it… or simply going for a drink!)

Taylor’s cellars, which are among the most famous in Porto, have it all: a splendid setting and very high quality ports!

Admission includes a port wine tasting, as well as an audio guide (available in 12 languages). The visit is really quite fascinating! You will stroll among the vats of port before visiting a small museum where you will learn more about the Douro region as well as the history of Port wines and their production.

And you’ll be able to put your brand new knowledge to the test with a Port wine tasting at the end of the visit. Next to the bar, you will also find a shop where you’ll be able to buy high quality Port wines!

In short, Taylor’s is most definitely one of the Captain’s favourites wine cellars in Porto!

• Graham’s

Located further west, half an hour’s walk from Dom Luis Bridge (10 minutes by bus – lines 901 or bus 906), Graham’s Port wine cellars also have it all: a magnificent historic setting, a rich history and very high quality wines!

All visitors have to join a guided tour (available in French, English, Portuguese, Spanish, German and Russian). The visit begins with a short film retracing the history of Graham’s and the production of Port wines before continuing in the cellars.

At the end of the visit, you will be able to taste three ports (you will be asked at the beginning of the visit to choose from between “menus” at different rates depending on the quality of the ports included).

Graham’s Cellars also includes a boutique and restaurant.

The most touristic cellars: Calem, Porto Cruz and Sandeman

Calem, Porto Cruz and Sandeman are undoubtedly the most touristic port wine cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia. While they’re not as high-end/charming as Taylor’s and Graham’s, they do have the merit of being easily accessible and quite inexpensive.

Admission tickets to the Calem cellars are €13 full price (interactive museum + guided tour + tasting). Find out more here.

To treat yourself, you can even opt for a visit to the Calem cellars followed by a port wine tasting and a Fado show, at a really very reasonable price.

Brief history of Port wine

The origins of Douro wines

While Port wine as we know it today was only really created in the 19^th century, the Douro Valley has been famous for its vineyards for over two millennia, as evidenced by the writings of Strabo, a Greek historian and geographer (60 BC – 20 AD). The Romans introduced the cultivation of vines along the Douro river in the 2^nd century BC.

Ancestral ties between England and Portugal

In the 14^th century, Portugal and England developed strong political and commercial ties, so much so that many British merchants took up residence in Portugal – which explains why the names of many Port wine companies sound resolutely English.

In the 14th century, the English started importing Portuguese wine, but in small quantity, and mainly from the Minho region.

The rise of Douro wines

In 1667, Colbert, Prime Minister of King Louis XIV, limited then simply banned French imports from from England.

In retaliation, King Charles II of England put an end to imports from France. But the English, who were great wine lovers, found themselves deprived of their main source of supply! English traders therefore turned to Portugal, with which trade relationships were already well established.

But the English clearly prefered the ample and full-bodied wines of the Douro Valley to the Minho wines which were hitherto imported from Portugal. The production in the Douro Valley therefore intensified and Porto becomes the starting point for wine convoys crossing the Atlantic.

To prevent the wines from spoiling during the trip, some producers decided to “fortify” their production with the addition of brandy. This method, which was at the time quite unorthodox, was based on the same principle as the “mutage” which later became characteristic of Port wines (although the addition of grape spirit now intervenes at the time of fermentation).

At the beginning of the 18^th century, Port wine was becoming increasingly popular. Production increased dramatically and some unscrupulous producers tried to conceal the poor quality of their wine by adding elderberry juice to darken the color.

The Marquis of Pombal

In 1756, the Marquis of Pombal, Prime Minister of Portugal, decided to put an end to the dishonest practices of some producers of of the city. From then on, production and trade of Port wine were subject to regulations and came under state control. The Marquis of Pombal created the Companhia Geral da Agricultura das Vinhas do Alto Douro (which later became the Real Companhia Velha) and drew up a detailed classification of the vines, designating the best vineyards, which were authorized to export their production, and inferior quality vineyards, which were exclusively destined for the Portuguese market.

The Marquis de Pombal somehow invented the concep of registred designation of origin!

The birth of modern Port wine

In the 1830s, the vast majority of Port producers started fortifying the wine by adding neutral grape spirit to stop the fermentation. Visitors became sweeter, with a higher alcohol content.

How is Port wine made?

Grape varieties

The grape varieties grown for the production of Port wine – around 30 in total – are overall unique to the region and rarely grown outside the Douro Valley.

The most famous are :

• touriga nacional
• tinta roriz
• touriga francesa
• tinta barroca
• tinta cao
• tinta amarela
• fina malvasia

The grape varieties can be grown separately, but are often mixed before or after fermentation, each bringing its own character and flavors to the wine.

Harvest

As with traditional wine, the harvest period is around mid-September. The Douro vineyard, with its steep relief, is only accessible on foot: the grapes are hand picked.

Winemaking

Once picked, the grapes are transported to quintas ( large wineries) to be vinified. The grapes are trampled in lagares, large granite vats, to pop the grains and extract the must.

Next comes the fermentation stage, during which the sugar turns into alcohol.

Fortification

The fortification is a key moment in the production of Port wine: neutral grape spirit (77°) is added to stop the fermentation. The Port wine thus “fortified” is sweeter (since the fermentation did not come to an end) and with a higher alcoholic content than traditional wines.

Following the fortification, the wine spends the winter in the cellars of the quintas, before being transported to the cellars of Vila Nova de Gaia where it’ll age.

The aging and blending of Port wine

In spring, Port wine is transported to the cellars of Vila Nova de Gaia to age in casks, barrels or bottles.

After aging in barrels, the wine is “blended”: oenologists select and blend different vintages before bottling the port wine.

What are the different types of Port wine?

Captain Ulysses wouldn’t want to ruin the suspense! The classification of Port wines is somewhat complicated, and you will be explained everything when visiting the cellars.

But here is a small simplified classification:

• Ruby: these are rather young wines, 3 years old on average (hence their dark ruby color), resulting from the blending of different vintages aged in casks (thus remaining relatively sheltered from air and little oxidized). Rubies are not intended to be kept for long.
• Tawny: Tawnies are oxidative wines, that is to say they have been aged in barrels, in contact with air, and have oxidized, which explains their tawny, brown or red color. More complex than Rubies, Tawnies are aged in barrels for at least 6 years before being blended and/or bottled.
• Vintage: Vintage wines are considered the best port wines. They are the result of a particularly exceptional harvest and come from the best vineyards. After a short period in barrels, they are bottled the on the 2^nd or 3^rd year following the harvest. Vintage ports are intended to age in the bottle and oenologists recommend keeping them for at least ten years (if not more) before consuming them.
• LBV:Late Bottled Vintages remain unblended, just like Vintage Port wines. But them, LBVs are aged for 4 to 6 years in casks or barrels before being bottled. While they can continue aging in the bottle, they are not long-keeping wines and they can be consumed as soon as they are bottled.

What about the vineyards?

Visiting the cellars has aroused your interest and you’re curious to find out more about Port wines? Captain Ulysses highly recommends going on a day-trip to explore the vinyards of the Douro Valley

If you’ve rented a car, you can freely visit the Douro region on your own. Otherwise, the Captain recommends opting for an organized day-tour such as this one: Douro Valley w/ Boat Tour, Wine Tasting & Lunch

Shopping

Wondering where to buy Port wine in Vila Nova de Gaia and Porto?

Several options.
If you want to buy high quality bottles, then the Captain recommends that you do so directly in the Port wine cellars or in wine shops.

If your port budget more limited and you simply want buy a few bottles without breaking the bank, you’ll find what you need in supermarkets: it might be not very glamorous, but you will find all the “basics” at very affordable prices.

Excessive drinking is dangerous for your health; alcoholic beverages should be consumed with moderation.

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