Wine Flight through Porto

We recommend starting your wine flight with a tour of Porto's modern version of a weekly market hall, which was only renovated in 2022: the Mercado Semanal do Bolhão is located not far from Porto's iconic Capela das Almas Santa Catarina church, whose corpus is covered in the typical blue and white tiles known as azulejos. A futuristic flight of steps leads visitors into a colourful labyrinth of stalls selling Portuguese treasures - food and non-food from land, river and sea. Anyone who is still waiting in line without a "copo de vinho" - Portuguese for a glass of wine - is immediately sent to the wine stand at the cheese or fish stall. "People just want it. They trust our wines," remarks Juan from Balåo Wine House Hugo Silva. There is a thirst - without many special requests - for vinho verde, tinto, bianco or "something sparkling". Four daily recommendations are available for tasting. The fresh wines from Vinho Verde and Minho are made from the white grape varieties Alvarinho, Avesso, Azal, Arinto, Loureiro or Trajadura. However, they are not just green and white, but also red, rosé and, above all, young. Right next to the Wine House, oysters are opened in chord, sea urchins are gutted and caviar is passed around with a dab for tasting in the charmingly neon-lit back room.

Then you stroll on past dried bacalhau or freshly caught cod and colourfully designed tins of sardines. The last sip is taken on the steps with a panoramic view. If you want to buy good wines, head to a "garrafeira". Celia Lino and Marco Ferreira opened their "Porto in a Bottle" wine shop in Rua das Flores a decade ago with pioneering flair in the oldest shop on the street. It only became a pedestrianised area in 2014 - with wine bars, restaurants and cafés. "My grandfather used to make wine for home consumption. Maybe that's how I discovered my love for simple Portuguese wines," says Celia. The shop stocks port wines up to 40 years old as well as wines from small producers from Douro, Minho and 40 other regions.

Many visitors to Porto are immediately drawn to the river. To the north lies Porto's Zona Ribeira. Opposite the warehouses in the Vila Nova de Gaia neighbourhood, the curved replicas of the old "Rabelos", the port wine boats, bob as if draped across the river. The 50 metre high arched steel bridge Ponte Luis connects both banks. Car-free at the top, city explorers can enjoy the sweeping view over the city's topography on foot or by tram. Excursion boats for the Douro cruise depart from the Ribeira area. Porto's oldest district still represents the old Portugal of fishermen and harbour workers. In the second, patinated rows of the neighbourhood, you can still clearly feel this time. There you will find contrasting, rugged places for special wine addresses such as "The Winebox", which is located on a car slip road. The location, designed like a wine box, stocks 450 wines - most of which come from little-known wineries that work to high standards.

The "Lado Unique and Private Port Wine Warehouse" stretches like a vaulted cellar from the Ribeira promenade to the alleyway behind it and is run by Avepod, an association of 22 Douro winegrowers. Characterised by its steep terraces and white wine quintas (wineries), the Douro Valley (a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001) is still primarily known for its port wines. This is not due to a lack of commitment on the part of the winegrowers, but rather to the regulated production volume of port wines in relation to dry wines. Yet Porto is surrounded by five appellations: the DOP Vinho Verde, Minho, Dão and Bairrada as well as the 80 kilometre long Douro Valley. The world's oldest and first state-protected wine-growing region runs along the Douro River of the same name from the Spanish border to Porto and is further divided into Baixo, Cima-Corgo and Douro Superior, which borders Spain. Incidentally, port wine is made from the same grapes as the local red and white wines: Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca and Tinto Cão. Examples include the powerful Meão Meandro Branco or the Vinha Maria de Castro.

Wine lovers - beginners and experts alike - can experience the world of Portuguese wines in the new cultural district "WOW - World of Wine", which opened in 2020. The 55,000 square metre cultural district, built like a wine terrace, was constructed ten years after the opening of the accompanying five-star wine hotel "The Yeatman" on a long abandoned hill above Vila Nova de Gaia. The wine cosmos - which has already won several awards - has established itself as the new wine hotspot of the harbour city, and indeed of the whole of Europe. Visitors could spend days here: The WOW offers seven museums, twelve restaurants, bars and cafés, shops, a chocolate factory and extensive exhibition areas. In the Wine-Experience, the Cork Museum and the Pinkpalace, everything revolves around wine knowledge. In the WSET-certified wine school, wine is tasted and demystified at the same time.

The WOW co-operates with over 100 Portuguese wine houses. The "Winebook Bible", which also features individual restaurant concepts, contains 16,000 items with 90 per cent Portuguese wines. These include vintage wines and port wines matured in wooden barrels, which are otherwise rarely seen on wine lists. The mastermind, founder and head of WOW and the Yeatman Hotel is the Brit Adrian Bridge. The former investment banker and property specialist married into the Yeatman port wine family in the 1990s and initiated the expansion of the Vila Nova de Gaia district. His idea of introducing tourists to Portugal's wine culture in addition to port wine tastings has paid off. Together with Porto's wine ambassadors, his wine culture has long been on a par with port wine culture. And that on the global stage.

More on the subject:

• Amphorae, Alvarinho and indigenous grape varieties - wine travel to Portugal: variety on the Atlantic

The best discoveries in Porto