Sandeman

If you ever come to Porto, the Sandeman Hostel is THE place to stay! I have a private room with a view, but there is also dorm accommodation, so the place is full of younger travellers from all over the world. Breakfast, included, is the best! They told me there were about 60 people this morning. Today, I talked with a young man from Antwerp and a Chinese girl from Canada. He is cycling to Santiago de Compostela and she is going to walk the Camino. I wish I could still do it.

I booked myself onto a tour of the Sandeman Cellars at 11.45 am. There was more information about the port production process than I could take in (even though I’ve done it before).:

There are small barrels and huge vats, depending on the type of port being produced.

The grapes are all grown up the Douro Valley and shipped downstream to Porto, specifically at Vila Nova de Gaio where all the wine lodges are situated. They store the port for a minimum of 3 years in a stable temperature and much longer for the vintage varieties.

After the tour, we were able to taste 3 types. Left to right: white port, ruby port, tawney port. The couple opposite had paid extra for port flavoured chocolates, but at 2 Euros each, I thought that was over the top.

Cheers!