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We stayed there for two nights. Douro Exclusive picked us up and dropped us off at the hotel. We had a lovely dry-aged steak dinner after our wine tour.

My husband and I were able to sleep in and have a lovely breakfast at Casa do Arco before our wine tour. Breakfast included croissants, homemade bread, cheese, charcuterie, fresh fruit, yogurt, and granola. 

Eating breakfast before a wine tour is essential!

Sandra picked us up promptly at 10:30 AM, and we were off to the first wine tasting of the day at Fonseca.

She stopped at the vineyard right before we entered the property and showed us all the common Portuguese varietals such as Touriga Nacional.

You can experience Fonseca wine at Vila Nova de Gaia in Porto or at Quinta do Panascal in Douro Valley, which is what we did.

Fonseca is well known in the wine world for its highly acclaimed vintage ports.

Before our tasting, we walked around the grounds and saw the “lagares,” which are granite tanks used for fermentation. The workers will tread the grapes by foot for hours at a time during harvest season.

If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend watching A Year in Port on Amazon prime. It’s a great documentary on the complexities of making port in the Douro Valley in Portugal.

We enjoyed two lovely glasses of a ruby port and tawny sitting outdoors on the patio.

The scenery is stunning. As far as the eye can see, you see one steeply terraced vineyard after another hugging the Douro River.

After our wine tasting, Sandra drove us over to the town of Pinhão for a cruise down the Douro River.

The cruise was a fun way to see all the vineyards on the banks of the river.

We happened to go on a day when the weather was perfect.

Sunny, warm but not hot, and super clear skies.

While we were enjoying our time on the water, Sandra surprised us with a tasting of a delicious tawny made by one of the staff’s family members. Obrigada!

All that wine tasting certainly worked up an appetite. We had a fantastic meal at a local restaurant, Toca da Raposa, which serves authentic Portuguese cuisine.

The waiter will ask about your food preferences and go as adventurous as you like. For example, we tried potatoes and wild boar, which was surprisingly not gamey.

The Portuguese love their potatoes, and they do them extremely well.

We also had some local sausages, soup, bacalhau na broa (cod in bread), and a delicious dessert sampler. All of these traditional dishes were paired with DOC Douro Wines.

The restaurant is run by a husband and wife team. The wife cooks in the back, and the husband works the front of the house. The service was incredibly warm and inviting.

A great local find.

Our last wine tasting of the day was at Quinta do Cume.

Quinta do Cume is a passion project started by surgeon, Jorge Tenreiro. He sought out specific soil content, water proximity, and the right altitude in order to create his unique high-quality wines specific to the terroir.

We had a personal tour of the property by one of the staff members who was working towards taking over the winemaking in the future.

After our informative tour, we were led outdoors to enjoy our wine tasting overlooking the vineyards. 

My husband and I were led through a lovely tasting of their DOC Douro reds and whites as we snacked on some fresh homemade bread and their own olive oil.

We particularly enjoyed and purchased their Touriga Nacional, Grande Reserva, and Vintage Port 2019.

Great experience!

Douro Exclusive offers two wine tour options:

1) Back to the Douro Roots

2) Immersive Douro Experience.

We joined the Back to the Douro Roots wine tour, which was 210€ per person for the small group tour.

We enjoyed a lovely day in Douro Valley wine country in May (late spring). I wore what I would consider “dressy casual” as seen in the photo above.

If you need more winery outfit inspiration, don’t miss my article below.

If you want to experience some of the best wineries Douro Valley has to offer with an incredibly knowledgeable guide who will feel like a friend at the end, then book your wine tour with Douro Exclusive.

Although they do offer pickup/drop off from Porto, I strongly suggest spending several nights out in Douro Valley at their boutique hotel, Casa do Arco.

Immerse yourself in the beauty of Portugal’s wine country and get ready to be in full relaxation mode. Saude!

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Questions on how to plan your Douro Valley winery tour?

Let me know in the comments below!