Jaunt to Portugal (early March)?

[Chris Doty]

TPF Crew,

I have reason to be in Portugal the first week of March, and will likely elect to explore hospitality in the Douro for ~2 days.

Anyone free / interested?

[RAYC]

I've heard that Leverkeusen is also good in early March!

[Chris Doty]

Blast! So that's where everyone is off to.

Sadly, I am unable to attend that tasting, but will be in Portugal March 2nd to March 4th (and was planning on spending Saturday the 3rd with some favorite port shippers).

[Cynthia J]

Hi Chris - if you are planning Saturday visits - contact your makers of choice and make arrangements in advance. During this off-season many lodges and tasting rooms are closed on weekends. Full season all week hours generally don't start until late March or April... I can tell you that Graham's Lodge hours are Monday to Friday 10:00 till 13:00 (last tour starts 12:00) then open again 14:00 till 17:30 (last tour starts 16:00). Closed Saturday and Sunday, though if you have a large group, you can contact them through the website http://www.grahamsportlodge.com/ for a possible exception. This is fairly typical. The Dalva tasting room is open seven days (closed at lunch time 13:00 to 14:00), but contact Gonçalo, I think some Sundays he is off and Carmen is there... look for C-da-SILVA-Porto-Douro-wine-experiences on Facebook and reach him through that. Enjoy!!

[Chris Doty]

Incredibly helpful!

Thank you Cynthia!

[DRT]

Are you coming to London on the same trip, Chris?

[Chris Doty]

Sadly, no.

I cant believe that in the 9 months since i've left i have only returned once (my sister's Cambridge graduation). I really need to make more of an effort to head over -- watch this space.

[Chris Doty]

So folks, I am heading to Lisbon this Wednesday, and am planning to spend one day in Oporto with my family. I understand that the bulk of the lodges are still a trek from the city, but wanted to know if people had particular suggestions for where to spend time, and maybe enjoy some scarce/well priced juice.

We may just end up trying to see a football match, but my preference would be to get a taste of life along the Douro.

tia

[g-man]

So folks, I am heading to Lisbon this Wednesday, and am planning to spend one day in Oporto with my family. I understand that the bulk of the lodges are still a trek from the city, but wanted to know if people had particular suggestions for where to spend time, and maybe enjoy some scarce/well priced juice.

We may just end up trying to see a football match, but my preference would be to get a taste of life along the Douro.

tia

I throughly enjoyed a very relaxing, high quality meal, with a good selection of half bottles @ the taylor lodge in villa nova di gaia.

There is always Vinologia for some really off the wall not able to find stuff outside of portugal ports most by the glass ( I think over 100)

I may get shot, but I found alot of the food in oporto a bit lacking so i imbibed more than I ate

[Glenn E.]

So folks, I am heading to Lisbon this Wednesday, and am planning to spend one day in Oporto with my family. I understand that the bulk of the lodges are still a trek from the city, but wanted to know if people had particular suggestions for where to spend time, and maybe enjoy some scarce/well priced juice.

I'll second Jeff's recommendation of the restaurant at the Taylor lodge. The patio (if the weather's warm enough) has a magnificent view of Ponte Dom Luis I and Porto, and the food is terrific.

As I recall, Vinologia doesn't open until the evening. However the Solar do Vinho do Porto (which is near the Crystal Palace) is open all day, or at least it was when I was there.

For food, if you haven't tried one already you really should have a Francesinha. The first one I ever had was at the Pestana Porto right down on the waterfront in Porto. Cafe Majestic makes a good one and is pretty easy to find (it's on Rua de Santa Catarina, the walking street) but the best one comes from a tiny little shop called Bufete Fase. Bufete Fase is up the hill from Cafe Majestic. As I recall it's on Santa Catarina about 3 blocks past the end of the walking section. It will be on your left as you're headed up the hill - the address is Rua de Santa Catarina 1147 and you can actually see it on Google Maps using street view. Not that it will help.

[g-man]

So folks, I am heading to Lisbon this Wednesday, and am planning to spend one day in Oporto with my family. I understand that the bulk of the lodges are still a trek from the city, but wanted to know if people had particular suggestions for where to spend time, and maybe enjoy some scarce/well priced juice.

I'll second Jeff's recommendation of the restaurant at the Taylor lodge. The patio (if the weather's warm enough) has a magnificent view of Ponte Dom Luis I and Porto, and the food is terrific.

As I recall, Vinologia doesn't open until the evening. However the Solar do Vinho do Porto (which is near the Crystal Palace) is open all day, or at least it was when I was there.

I think they were 12:00pm when i went last may. Their Credit card machine was broken tho =(

[Chris Doty]

Great stuff, thanks chaps!

[JacobH]

I agree with everything that has been said. Coffee and a pastry on Rua Santa Catarina (if not in the Cafe Majestic then in one of the dozens of other places); gentle walk across the Ponte Dom Luis and up the hill to the Taylor’s lodge for lunch; visit the lodges you are interested in and then go back down and across to Vinologia for a tasting of Ports which you have never seen before. Really doesn’t get much better!

I also think that some of the other attractions, such as the Palácio da Bolsa (which I think has a room for tasting Douro table wines) and the Casa da Música (if there’s a concert) are worth a look too, but I may be in a minority on in having that view

[RAYC]

then go back down and across to Vinologia for a tasting of Ports which you have never seen before.

If you do this, the Quinta do Revolta 40yr Tawny is worth a go!

Have also sent you an email.

[Christian]

I may get shot, but I found alot of the food in oporto a bit lacking so i imbibed more than I ate

Wow... The food is a bit lacking...???? I dream all year long about Portuguese food and I have to restrain myself from eating 24/7 when I'm once a year in Portugal... There are so many nice dishes, and the food is normally fresh and not processed... But don't worry... I will not shoot you... but may I make a few jokes about the American cuisine instead...??? Maybe they just don't use enough ketch-up to please your American palate?

But coming back to port... My perfect day would be like the following: Start in Ribeira, the river-side of Porto... walk over the bridge... enjoy the (unfortunatley very touristic) atmosphere and keep on walking until you find the Graham's lodge... Which is pretty far, but it's worth it... They have a very interesting tour and you can try a few nice ports... Then walk back towards the river, enjoy a visit to Ferreira's Lodge... Now it should be lunch-time... Go to the already mentioned restaurant at the Taylor's lodge... Here is the web-page with their menu and port-wine list:

http://www.tresseculos.pt/3/104/Barao-de-Fladgate

Afterwards you participate in the tour through the Taylor's lodge or you go down the hill to the Sandeman lodge (I know, the Don-costume-thing is a little bit weird, but the lodge is just beautiful).

Now I would end the lodge-tour with a quick visit to the new Quevedo lodge and order one or two of their colheitas... Afterwards I would go to the Yeatman-Hotel for a dinner (they just got a Michelin-star a short time ago - but spoiler-warning: They might not serve ketch-up with their food (sorry G-Man... I couldn't hold that back... )

And then the high-light of the day: walking back over the bridge to Porto, walking through the tunnel and turning to the right, to visit Vinologia. Great selection of fantastic ports... Maybe they still have a Dalva Golden White 1952 for sale? (I think the Dalva shop doesn't sell them anymore). They have great colheitas... 40 year old Tawny... For me the place is paradise...

Even if I'm a huge football fan and a supporter of the FC Porto (which has just gained back the lead in the national championship and faces now a fantastic game against Benfica on Friday), I would rather focus on the port then the football....

Enjoy your time in Portugal!!!

[g-man]

I may get shot, but I found alot of the food in oporto a bit lacking so i imbibed more than I ate

Wow... The food is a bit lacking...???? I dream all year long about Portuguese food and I have to restrain myself from eating 24/7 when I'm once a year in Portugal... There are so many nice dishes, and the food is normally fresh and not processed... But don't worry... I will not shoot you... but may I make a few jokes about the American cuisine instead...??? Maybe they just don't use enough ketch-up to please your American palate?

I think I need to get you out to NY

[Christian]

I may get shot, but I found alot of the food in oporto a bit lacking so i imbibed more than I ate

Wow... The food is a bit lacking...???? I dream all year long about Portuguese food and I have to restrain myself from eating 24/7 when I'm once a year in Portugal... There are so many nice dishes, and the food is normally fresh and not processed... But don't worry... I will not shoot you... but may I make a few jokes about the American cuisine instead...??? Maybe they just don't use enough ketch-up to please your American palate?

I think I need to get you out to NY

I knew that this would drive you mad... (that's why it was so much fun to write it...)
The truth is that I had some of the best meals of my life in Portugal... so I had to defend the Portuguese cuisine...

But I'm sure that there are great places to eat in NY... Should I ever plan to come to NY, then I will ask you for some ideas... and bring you a nice bottle of port to share...

[g-man]

I may get shot, but I found alot of the food in oporto a bit lacking so i imbibed more than I ate

Wow... The food is a bit lacking...???? I dream all year long about Portuguese food and I have to restrain myself from eating 24/7 when I'm once a year in Portugal... There are so many nice dishes, and the food is normally fresh and not processed... But don't worry... I will not shoot you... but may I make a few jokes about the American cuisine instead...??? Maybe they just don't use enough ketch-up to please your American palate?

I think I need to get you out to NY

I knew that this would drive you mad... (that's why it was so much fun to write it...)
The truth is that I had some of the best meals of my life in Portugal... so I had to defend the Portuguese cuisine...

But I'm sure that there are great places to eat in NY... Should I ever plan to come to NY, then I will ask you for some ideas... and bring you a nice bottle of port to share...

on the contrary, we all have different taste buds, I certianly hold no grudge if people don't deem the cuisine in NY to be good.

Was simply saying that overall in the various spots I went to throughout portugal from restaurants in the guide books, to restaurants off the streets, to the cafes, to the hole in the walls, to the ones off the shoreline, i found most of them quite lacking. One of the underlying tastes I found overly abused is salt, but I must admit the asian palate and my aversion to overly salted foods. So no, I don't use ketchup because it's salty and sour.

[Chris Doty]

Thanks to all for the incredibly helpful recommendations!

Our time in Porto was limited, but it was sufficient to admire the city's unique character and appeal (IMHO, a much more memorable and thought-provoking city than Lisboa).

Lunch at Taylor's lodge has to be the highlight, though I must say that I was surprised throughout the visit that there were so few mature bottles of Port on offer throughout the city (and what bottles were available were absurdly priced). Still, we had a bottle of the 1987 Guimarães with lunch (a decent buy I thought at 50 EUR), and I picked up an '84 (birth vintage) at the shop for a bit less.

The Graham's lodge was closed , the Noval shop a touch small, and the Sandeman shop a touch gimmicky, but I am being a bit harsh -- as the experience of walking around and seeing all of the 'Hollywood' eqsue signs was really quite special. I also am very fond of the layout of the city -- the interplay with the water, bridges, trams, etc etc etc.

Vinologia was nice for a glass of VP, but again, their selection is generally limited to 90s vintages from mid/lesser producers of port (e.g., Krohn, Mz, etc).

A great trip, and I look forward to returning at some point in the future (hopefully in a group that would include a great number of TPF-ers).

cheers