ThePortForum.com

Hello all,

I am fairly new to appreciating Decent Port and completly new to discussion forums but this site looked very interesting. I am also getting geared up for my first visit to Porto and the lodges next year so future tips would be most welcome!

I have been into wine generally for quite a while but getting more into Port is working well for me as it is one of the few types of wine that both myself and my wife enjoy.

I never really thought that the "average" port drinker would be the type to contribute to forums but clearly I was way off!

Cheers,

Tony, Hornchurch, Essex, UK.

Tony,

You are very welcome indeed to The Port Forum, which was set up simply as a place where folks who like port can share their thoughts and experiences. It gives you a place to look when you want to know what something was like or simply to share a story with other people who will enjoy it.

One of the stories that I sometimes share with other people is my first trip to Oporto. This was in the summer of 1993. I know the date exactly as my wife and I booked the trip in winter 1992/3 and by the time we travelled, she was pregnant with our daughter. I had the lucky privilege of being on a tour of several of the port lodges in Vila Nova de Gaia with someone sitting next to me saying "Here, have mine as well." We ended the trip with a 4 day cruise up the Douro river and managed to visit a number of historic sites and a couple of Quintas (including Malvedos), leading to the demolition of a bottle of Malvedos 1979 vintage port at an impromptu party on the last night of the cruise! Happy memories.

Apart from the suggestion of a cruise, I will leave suggestions for places to visit to others who have organised themselves trips to the region much more recently than me. One thing I would say, is that if you have the chance to visit the Douro Valley itself, then you really should. It is the most breathtakingly beautiful vineyard region in the world - and you would miss all of that if you just visited Oporto, Vila Nova and the lodges.

Alex

PS - being based in Hornchurch means that you are fairly close to London and some of the other occasional venues that we use to meet up and share a bottle or two. Please feel free to respond to one of the posts about offlines. These are posted on the forum as open invitations so that anyone interested can reply that they would like to come along. It's usually a great way to try different things that you might not risk opening if there was just one or two of you drinking a bottle of port.

Hi Tony, welcome to !

I have a couple of favorite stops in Porto from my two trips there.

You should have dinner one night at the Tromba Rija on the waterfront in Vila Nova de Gaia. It is a buffet-style restaurant, but the food is fantastic and the atmosphere is very fun. Plan to spend the entire evening, however, as they won't let you leave until you have finished all 6 (!) courses. The price is very reasonable (all-inclusive with wine for about 30 Euros per person).

If you're willing to splurge a little bit on food, have lunch at the Taylor Fladgate lodge. Their restaurant's patio has a magnificent view of Vila Nova de Gaia, the Douro, Ponte Dom Luis I, and Porto. On a nice day it is the best place to eat in all of Porto/V.N.d.G. Depending on what you order lunch could run you 35-50 Euros per person. Dinner would likely be more, but I have never been there for dinner.

To me, the best lodge tours are Sandeman and Ramos Pinto. Sandeman is the "generic" touristy tour, but if you have never gone on a lodge tour that makes it perfect. Ramos Pinto's tour includes a tour of their private museum which is worth the cost of admission all by itself. There are many other great lodge tours, but those are the two I recommend for a first visit.

While you are there, you must also spend an evening at Vinologia. It's the best independent Port bar in all of Porto and can be found on the corner of Rue de Sao Joao Novo and Rue do Infante Dom Henrique one block up from the Douro river in the Ribeira district. Their selection rivals that of the Solar do Vinho do Porto (which is also worth a visit) but it is more neighborly and easier to get to.

Hi Tony, welcome to theportforum. I'm sure you'll enjoy this place and you'll surely find tons of resources here for planning a Porto trip. Have fun!

Hello Tony, Welcome to the Port heaven

Hi Tony,

Welcome to

As AHB has already said you appear to be dangerously close to some of the venues we use for port tastings. The port geek bug is about to get you

have fun.

Derek