Lello

Queue to get in!

https://www.livrarialello.pt/en-us/livrarialello-institucional

Another day on the Duoro

La Rosa was given to Clara (portrait below) as a christening present in 1906. Her granddaughter Sophia is now the general manager and the family lives part of the year in Oxford. I saw her at breakfast arranging posies of flowers on the tables.

It was going to be a hot day (27 degrees forecast) as the whole property is south facing and the schist soils and high stone terracing retain the heat. I set off as early as I could  (10.00 am!) to walk around the nearest terraces. The construction of these terraces is an amazing feat of engineering, making use of every inch of this incredibly sloping site.

The railway line runs right alongside the river at this point. In 1977 part of the family home collapsed onto the line, putting out transportation for 2 days. The railway company threatened to blow up the rest! The ruins are still visible below us and someone keeps chickens down there.

I came back for a quick swim before lunch - but there was no lunch! I had to resort to cup-a-soup and an apple from my emergency rations. All the better to enjoy my dinner this evening.

First there was a tour of the winery buildings and a tasting session. The guide talked so quickly I found it hard to follow. I asked her to slow down, but somehow she couldn’t. She was even faster than E and that’s saying something! I wish I could have grasped more of the details.

They produce 300,000 litres p.a. on 45 hectares. The ground is between 150m and 400m above sea level. The chief winemaker drives around the vineyards every day, tasting the grapes to see which are ready because they are all at different stages because of location on the slopes. The 7 pickers are all women. I didn’t see any in action this morning. I did see the crates of grapes arriving here  in the afternoon and being sent through a machine with a conveyor belt which magically removed all the stalks.

Dinner:

Pumpkin soup w. cream cheese.

Iberian pork w. creamy truffles mashed potato, asparagus and mushrooms of several kinds.

Green tea w. lemongrass.

This restaurant is a perfectly managed operation!  I can hear the chef getting excited and shouting like Gordon Ramsey.

Clara

Breakfast

The eagle at the gate, and the logo of the winery

Morning walk

The highest terraces

Swimming pool

The new grapes being processed at the winery this afternoon 

Enormous 150 litre barrels for aging the port

Each new family member receives a smaller barrel from their birth year

Two types of port: ruby and tawney

In the tasting room

Dinner

I was given a complimentary half bottle of late bottled Vintage 2014, made from these grapes:

Touriga Nacional 

Touriga Franca 

Tinta Barroca

Tinta Roriz de Letra A

I’ve had to fill my water bottle with it, so now I have no water!

Quinta de la Rosa

So I’m staying for 2 days at a working winery. Lots to see (and taste!) As I was checking in, I saw a familiar face in front of me. I couldn’t quite place him, but I knew his face. I thought perhaps I’d met him on one of my Caminos. He turned out to be Alun Armstrong, one of the actors in the long running TV series New Tricks.

The rooms are high above the river, so it’s a different perspective from Vintage House. The vines cling to the slopes in neat rows, each plant cared for, meticulously pruned and prized. I went for a late walk up to the Vale  do Inferno, where the incredibly steep terrain makes you wonder how any plants could thrive. The vines are espaliered and only the bottom third are allowed to bear grapes. I only saw black ones, small, sweet and full of pips.

I had dinner in the restaurant at 8.00 pm. Not a big meal, just slow cooked rice with seafood (a cross between paella and bouillabaisse), followed by a pot of oolong tea. There was a glass of local white wine, Passagem Reserva Blanco, not to my taste after my usual tipple of NZ Sauvignon Blanc at home.

Then came the evening “entertainment” ie grape treading! This is done between 8.00 pm and 11.00 pm throughout September. We are in the middle of the Vintage now. Two groups of 4 stomp around up to their thighs in big vats. At 9.30 pm, tourists can join in on payment of €25, for which they also receive a souvenir tee shirt. In the photos below, the regular treaders wear green shirts and the tourists white. A young Brazilian couple tried to persuade me to do it, but it all looked too messy and too tiring for me! They also played rousing traditional music to rally the troops.

My bedroom with an antique ox yoke as a bedhead 

Dinner

Tea menu

Treading the grapes

Tourists joining in

Pinhao to Quinta de la Rosa

I needed to go for an early morning walk in order todo justice to the breakfast buffet. I walked downstream to check the way to Quinta de las Rosa, my next destination. It’s supposed to be a 21 minute walk, but the last bit is steeply uphill. I passed by another cruise boat, moored for the night, but some passengers were already off for a bus trip. Also to be seen was a group of  “camper cars” of various nationalities, just parked up beside the road - a nice free night for them, but no facilities.

Back for breakfast at 9.15 am, outside on the terrace. You know it’s a top spot when there is a bottle of champers hidden in the corner for making Bucks Fizz. The day was warming up, so a quick walk around town was in order, but not a lot to see. I bought my train ticket for Saturday and admired the blue and white tiles depicting local winery scenes from years gone by. Then I determined it was warm enough to check out the swimming pool - no heating but I had it to myself to do a few lengths.

Breakfast Terrace: the Cruise Boat and camper cars are round the bend of the river, on the right (between the plant pots)

They were picking grapes (by hand and onto a tractor) at 8.00 am. These vines are on a north facing slope, opposite my window.

The women pick (with more delicate hands)

The men transport the baskets down to the shore

Scenes from the station. The last one shows the problem before dams were built to control the flow.

An old wine storage place, now abandoned

A cruise boat full of Americans. They come and go all day!

Hotel pool: it would be a pity to leave without trying it!

Pinhao, Duoro Valley

The scenic train trip took 2.5 hours and was a bargain at €5.55. It looks as if seniors travel at half price, so I’m really into a good thing here. We left Sao Bento at 9.20 and arrived at around 11.50 am. Leaving Porto, we passed veggie gardens and fields of corn on the cob, before we entered the famed Duoro vineyards on both sides. The scenery was very similar to the Ribiera Sacra in Spain.

So many people got off the train at Pinhao, the station platform was completely jammed as people milled around, not knowing which way to go. I could see my hotel, the Vintage House, but not how to get to it! Finally I arrived, but couldn’t check in till after 3.00 pm. After a coffee and a little sit in the beautiful hotel gardens, I went to book a one-hour boat trip upstream in the afternoon. I thought an hour would be enough; to travel up here from Porto by boat, as many people do, would be a bit boring and same-same.

Vintage House from the river

Sitting in the garden

Our boat heads upstream

Flying the flag

Part of the Croft Estate

Landing stage near the hotel

Hotel entry

Finally got into my room and took a hot bath!

.................

Time for a siesta and a bit of BBC World on TV, but nothing on except Trump&Ukraine and Boris&Brexit. I took a short walk along the river where a large tour boat had pulled in containing a German group, going by their loud-speakers.

Dining in, as now too tired to explore further:

Duck Magret (somewhat tough for aging teeth) with roasted veg and orange sauce

Almond mousse and almond ice cream

In addition, the chef sent out complimentary “surprises” of prawn tempura and mushroom soup. I tasted the local red:

Quinta da Soalheira Vinhas Velhas, Cima Corgo Duoro

Porto to Pinhao

The Passenger Hostel provided a very comfortable bed for the night, on a mezzanine floor of my private room. There was a bit of noise outside, so I had to resort to digging out my earplugs. This morning the rubbish truck stopped outside with his engine running, whilst the driver went into the cafe opposite for a coffee! This was at 6.45 am but I was already having an early cup of tea in bed. This is a very old building with high ceilings which has been renovated recently, especially the bathrooms; but no en-suites.

Yesterday evening I enjoyed a delicious meal at a vegan restaurant, DaTerra, only 5 minutes walk down the road.

.... followed by a delicious:



The best part about the hostel is watching the world go by from my window. Uni students were off to lectures, wearing the traditional long black cloaks, the girls with black skirts and black stockings and the boys in black suits.

Breakfast was served on the top floor of the hostel, DIY style. Lots of young Asian students were piling their plates high. A few Camino walkers were already departing as I arrived at 8.00 a.m.

This end room under the roof appears to be the beginnings of an art gallery.