Port-oh! Part 2: Exploring Portugal’s Second City & Sampling Its Famous Drink
Following on from my post the other day, in this blog I’ll chat about a port tour I went on. As mentioned in the previous post, I’m not mad about Port but it’s nice enough for a tipple now and then. And I couldn’t really leave Porto neglecting its most famous export!
We did the tour with Porto Walkers. There are many options for this kind of thing, but I just went with an established company so it would be well organised and know what to expect. The chap giving us the tour - Juan - was knowledgeable, passionate and amiable. He did his job well and facilitated a good time for all.
There may have been about 20 of us in the end from various places around the world. One other young-ish English guy I got talking to who wasn’t from all that far from me, another slightly older British couple (the bloke had ran a wine bar years back), a few Americans ranging from Alaska to New York and various ages, a couple of Canadian ladies, and some travellers from Germany and Sweden.
We went to 3 different Port producers/sellers, each unique. One was a small family owned place, another a bit bigger with huge cellars, and the last one a bit more commercial and catering to a more ‘trendy’ crowd. Like with gin and other alcoholic drinks, they’re trying to modernise and ‘re-brand’ to a degree to make it something enjoyed by all, if not quite in keeping with the original idea. Purists may balk, others may say great, why not.
The establishments were all on the Gaia side of the river. It has been joked by some folk from Porto that then only good thing about Gaia (officially a different town but gets lumped together as its right by the city) is the view of Porto. That’s a bit mean of course as there’s far more to it of course. Not least all the Port breweries and distilleries!
It’s a great place to have a wander of your own accord, up and down the Douro river. The tour is more focused of course and we were guided round the different places and sample several of the local produce.
First off, Juan gave a brief history of Porto and got a gauge of people's knowledge and interest in the drink, where we’re from etc. Then he launched into the more port specific aspects where it came from and why and what we would see and do on the rest of the tour.
One interesting story was how it all started. Portugal had developed this fortified version of wine out of necessity. Being a seafaring nation, wine didn’t last so processes had to be developed for keeping it longer.
Meanwhile the British (close allies with Portugal over the years) had a bit of a falling out with the French and they couldn’t get their wines from their neighbour. Seeing what Porto/Portugal had produced, they saw a great business opportunity, and quite frankly, jumped on the coattails of the Portuguese and their offering. Portugal had the product, the Brits the entrepreneurial nous and drive. And of course, being fortified, this drink could survive the trip to London.
This then organised the expansion and distribution, and the rest as they say, is history!
Part 3 will dive into the specifics of the 3 places we went and any final thoughts - 3 unique offerings, 7 tastings with something for all…
~ Adam
@adambarratt
www.AdamBarratt.com
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