Our Douro River cruise by car begins this morning – and we are fortunate that the skies have begun to clear. Phew. It would have put a huge damper on our plans to explore the river and wine country if the rains continued. But no fear, we are out of the apartment garage and easily on our way down the Douro in no time. Following the river we pass through all sorts of little towns and teeny hamlets on the road, heading toward our first stop, the Baloico Boneco, a “balcony” overlook above the river. We find the turn off easily enough and head up the narrow road, past industrial sights and warehouses. Following the GPS (always a challenge!) we end up on a narrow dirt road (oh lord, here we go again) heading toward a windmill field. Hmmm…..
Reaching a gate on the road, we stop the car and get out to explore. The surrounding countryside is gorgeous, dark green pines on the hillsides and fields of yellow and purple flowering bushes on the lower slopes, all framing the Douro far down below us. It’s beautiful, but there is no “Balcony” overlook in sight, and no signs directing us either. Just the huge windmills to which we don’t really want to get any closer.
Ok – abort! We reverse and head back down the gravel road, fortunately not encountering any other traffic which would have been brutal considering there is no where to turn around and precious few places – if any – where you can pull off to the side to let anyone pass. Back on the main road we try to look for a café but decide to just bag it and head onto our next stop: the Castro Monte Mozinho ruins site. As we drive a few blocks down the road, we actually see a sign for the stupid Baloico Boneco. Really? Stupid Google GPS! Had us in the absolute wrong location. We could have driven up this street, parked and hiked to the correct location – which we can now see from the road and that has a perfect view of the river, and a swing! Honestly.
So – off we go, further along the river, then turning inland, heading North up toward Aveleda with a stop at the ruins. Arriving just as the ruins open, a helpful guard lets us in, gives us a brochure with a map and explains where go and what to see. Inside the building is a little museum with a model of the city and some great overhead drone shots that show the extent of the ancient town. Built in the 1st C BC, in the time of Augustus, it was occupied up until the late 5th C AD. It’s 5 hectares cover some of the mountain slopes, and the location, up here on this granite hill, allowed the control of the confluence of the Douro and the Tamega Rivers.
The location is beautiful, all green and overgrown with the ruins dotting the walkway up to the main town. Once at the main archaeological site, we spend a bunch of time just wandering around through the entry doors and walls, past courtyards and this big boulder stuck into the outer wall. Weird – but ever so picturesque.
The round stone structures that are dotted about the site are parts of the walls of each individual home – the actual residence built into a circular shape. It is all so amazing, to be standing in the space that was built thousands of years ago – and it is totally peaceful up here. There isn’t another soul around as we wander and explore the old stone ruins.
The walk back down the hill to the car park is equally special with paths cut through the forest and old wells with water channels running down to the commercial area of the site. A wonderful little diversion and great place to stretch our legs a bit after driving up from Porto.
Back on the road, we traverse the little lane from the ruins site, through vineyards that stretch across the hills as far as the eye can see. We have definitely arrived in wine country!
We make a brief pit stop in the little town of Galegos to walk through their really tidy cemetery and pretty little church courtyard – cemeteries are always so fascinating, the way the headstones are marked and decorated.
Then it is on up the road – a quick 15 minutes to Quinta da Aveleda, the winery established here in 1870. We have booked a garden tour as well as lunch and wine tasting afterward, figuring might as well make the most of our visit. We are greeted by our guide, Cristina, who takes us on a lovely stroll through the 20 acres of beautifully manicured gardens, all the while explaining the history of the winery.
Founded by Manoel Pedro Guedes, a visionary who decided that the area was perfect for cultivation of wine when no one else in the are thought commercial wine growing was possible, Aveleda was the first in the region to use French-style vine planting and was probably the winery that began and made the Vinho Verde region a great wine producing DOC. When he inherited the property, he immediately began creating the gardens, preserving hundred-year-old trees, planting new growth as well, including 100 species of camellia trees. When designing and building his winery, he built a cellar capable of handling 300 barrels of wine, when the winery was only producing 30. A true visionary, who has handed down his passion and knowledge of the industry to all his heirs – the winery currently being run by the 5th generation Guedes.
The gardens are just stunning – the 300-year-old Eucalyptus, the Sequoias, all towering above us. Wide landscaped paths lined with trees and flowers, the little ivy-covered guard station and the chapel where the family hosts weddings and parties surrounded by greenery.
And in the middle of it all? A goat tower! Wait! That’s a South Africa Stellenbosch Fairview winery thing! But oh no – it is an Aveleda thing! Cristina tells us that the owner of Fairview visited here and loved the goat tower so much he asked permission to duplicate at his winery. Such a small world! We’ve now seen the only 2 goat towers in the world apparently!
On we go through more beautiful flowering lanes, to the little lake with the tea house in the middle that can be rented for special occasions or booked for a tea in the afternoon. Along the way Cristina becomes our photographer – framing pictures in the best spots – she’s good! And continuing her living history of the vineyard and the gardens.
Passing the family home – which they still use for holidays and weekends – and the fountain that has a cameo of each family daughter on each side, we end our tour inside the aforementioned 300-barrel cellar, exploring the old barrels and the new – with our fabulous photographer in tow!
Then it is on to lunch! And what a lunch – a private seating for just the 2 of us – in an enormous events room. It is such fun! We start with a vegetable soup, then have “snacks” which are far more appetizers than we could ever consume – a cheese and meat platter, mini fried “delicacies” – essentially croquettas of different varieties – smoked meat puff with honey and mustard and these delicious cod cakes called Pataniscas. Ay yi yi – and we sill have the main course to come! Which is an excellent pork dish call mini Rojoes a Minhota – a local specialty. And of course, it all comes with wine pairings! We are stuffed – but we have to save from for the Portuguese Crème Brulée! Thankfully our sweet waiter lets us wrap up the cheese and sausage to take with us, because we’d never be able to finish it all. Snacks for later! Or dinner the way we are feeling right now.
Everything was just excellent and it was a wonderful way to finish our tour here. Cristina comes to collect us and take us to the shop – where PS – we find out that Aveleda makes Casal Garcia, my favorite Vinho Verde brand! And we get a great bottle of their equally fabulous Alvarinho wine cheap! Even at the vineyard the wines are so inexpensive. It is amazing the prices here. Shopping done, we bid Cristina a fond farewell and hit the road on the way to Pinhão.
It is still early, so we decide to take the scenic route to Pinhão, passing through the mountains with gorgeous long views (not that you can tell that from these pictures) and on down to Regua, a stopping off point for every riverboat and the home of the Douro museum, which is all about the history of the Douro region, the wine and the production of said wine.
Finding a parking spot relatively easily, we wander along the riverbank to the museum and after finally navigating through confusion signage, enter into the world of wine. It is a very interesting museum, just displays after displays of winemaking processes and machinery and the history of the wines in the region, including how a fungus virtually wiped out the entire region because of the way the vines were planted and how changing planting to a more terraced approach saved the vines. There is also a huge wall display depicting the history, regions and types of wine in the area – as well as this fascinating “quarantine” room where the “disinfest” items that will eventually be displayed – including some taxidermy animals! Wild.
Regua is a pretty bustling tourist town, which didn’t really float our boat, so we skedaddled out of there for the 30 minute drive along the Douro riverbank to Pinhão and Casa Rocha – our home for the next two nights.
Arriving in town, we actually manage to find parking on the street – definitely a challenge in busier times – but we luck out with a spot a few hundred yards away from the apartment. Grabbing only the essentials for now, we duck into the TI where a helpful guy gives us this great map, pointing out where most of the restaurants and viewpoints are located, then troop up the stairs to the apartment address to retrieve our keys from the lockbox. In another Amazing Race moment – or just not paying attention moment – we get the keys but then can’t figure out where the apartment is located. It is #2 and there is a #2 behind us down the alley. But when we try the keys there, they don’t work. A very helpful old Portuguese woman is chattering away at us in, of course, Portuguese, so we’ve no idea what she was trying to tell us! We finally re-read the check in instructions and realize that the apartment is behind the door by the key box – and up the hallway stairs! Duh! And obviously what helpful Portuguese Grandma was trying to tell us – either that or she was just lambasting us dumb tourons, knowing we’d never understand! When the shoe fits…..
Finally finding and accessing the apartment, we find a lovely 2 bedroom place, newly renovated – or even newly built – with all the amenities we could ever want. A lovely space for the next 2 nights, and even more if we had the time. The perfect base for our explorations – including a rooftop patio with fabulous views over the Douro and across the vineyards.
After retrieving all our bags from the car, we set off to familiarize ourselves with the little one street town, walking down by the Douro, loving the quiet and peacefulness of the late afternoon. Since we have so much leftover food (including today’s haul from lunch), we decide to just picnic on the rooftop, stopping at a little bakery at the end of town for some rolls and croissants for the morning. Then it is up to the wonderful rooftop for a lovely evening overlooking the Douro.
Perfect way to end the day and prepare us for tomorrow’s Douro river explorations!
Andiamo 