Even though Mick and I (and a special guest) will be returning to some of these places in a few days, after we pick up our hire car, we joined a full day tour to the Douro Valley which inlcuded a cruise on the river and a visit to a winery.

We climbed aboard a bus, with 24 other people, including 2 couples from Australia and two sisters who were born and raised in Australia but who now live in the US.

Our first stop was at a winery – Quinta da Formigosa, where we met the winemaker – Reuben – who took us on a tour of the vineyard, the winery, and then finally guided us through a tasting of two of their wines. Reuben was a great guide who had worked in New Zealand and in France.

The grapes had been harvested, except for a few vines they deliberately left for tourists like us to have a taste. But, only one grape each.

Some vines had a few grapes remaining like the ones Mick was picking here, and others had a third crop of smaller grapes that had appeared after harvest – Reuben called them the “granddaughter crop”.

This area is really steep. Vines planted on the sides of these steep hills make it very difficult for the grape pickers to handle. The harvest must be done by hand. The soil is made up of mostly shale which is excellent for growing grapes. The rules for producing wine in this region are strict, like in other countries we’ve visited around the world, but with climate change and the temperatures rising, drip irrigation is now allowed, but only once per fortnight, and only for younger vines. The amount of water used by a vineyard is monitored by the regulators, so no one adds more than they are permitted.

Mick liked the white wine we tasted, but I wasn’t a fan of either. This vineyard is well known and does produce high quality wines with its current vintage selling for €52. The ones we tasted though were their lower range at €15 a bottle. I’m not a wine snob – but I do know if I like a wine or not, and these weren’t for me.

After this stop, the tour group became a little more chatty, helped by the two small glasses of wine we had tried. Our next stop was in Pinhão, where we caught a boat for a 50 minute cruise on the Douro River, complete with some tapas and glasses of Spumante, which was served icy cold and was quite delicious.

The ‘party’ on the boat soon was in full swing. There were two Irish women who were visiting Porto for a long weekend, as you can when you live nearby. They were very entertaining. Even their accents sounded fantastic. They did use the word “fook” a lot, and it was hilarious. Even when Mick pointed it out as a joke, they honestly said they hadn’t even “fooking noticed“.

As we headed to our lunch stop, we pull up at a viewing spot to look down on the valley. Here one of the Australian women insisted on taking our photo.

Mick and I were very impressed by our bus driver – Patricia. She handled the narrow winding roads very competently, but Mick is now a little anxious as I will be the one driving these roads in a few days time.

We stopped in the town of Amarante, on the banks of the Tâmega River. Here we were led to a small taverna for lunch which we were not expecting, nor were the others we shared a table with. We were served local dishes of chorizo with honey, then a rice and bean dish (with chorizo), and then deep fried cod fish fritters, served with a glass Vinho Verde – a spritzy light (very sour) little number.

The pièce de résistance was the local pasty speciality, called doces fálicos. Really it was what we’d call a cream puff filled with a custard. But what is unique here is the shape, it is shaped like a penis and is used in festivities held by the city each year. The young American man we shared a table with insisted he use a knife and fork to eat his!

Amarante had lots to see, and I’m hoping I can take us back there in a few days so we can explore it further.

It was a ten hour day, so Mick cooked us some more fresh fish for dinner and we had an early night. We have another tour booked for tomorrow afternoon which will include visiting three cellars in Gaia and tasting some port wine!