For The Love Of Port

Hello everyone,
I'm excited to be going back to Portugal in early October, and I have one full day alone in VndG to plan for ( about noon until noon).

When I searched this site as part of my research, I discovered that most of the recommendations are more than 10 years old, with rare exceptions, like my own posts about my trip back in 2022. (you can read them again to recall who I am). People always ask what the poster is interested in so:
I am absolutely tempted by the premium tour at Grahams, and returning to Kopke and Quevedo for their delicious Colheito, but what are some better options? Where might I find an English speaking tour that hits multiple port producers over many hours, at my ideal quality per price? The internet is great at finding me tastings that end with a tawny red and white, and well, I have much higher hopes.

I have already reached out to Fredrick who I met on this site back in 2022.

I will be arriving at the airport about 9:30am, and once I get through all the bureaucracy, I will be leaving my bags at Sandeman, and hitting the town, trying to buy some bottles to take home, but most importantly try ports that I can't get at home, ideally very old , or your favorites.

I was trying to figure out how to not type this out, since much of it is in my old posts... but:
my favorite ports styles in order of my preference:
Colheita - even recent ones can be very good.
The right Vintage - I wish I knew enough to understand what I like, cause I have had some that I was sad to have bought, others have been so special that I seem to be collecting vintage port now.
Tawny. - I think of the 20yr tawny as my standard, it's good enough at the price for me to own a bunch of them. some 20 year Tawnys are better then a couple 30 years I have tried, but in general I like the older more complex ones more.
I was recently taught about Crusted Port, as the poor man's vintage port, and the one that I tried was really good. I enjoyed the power for price.
LBV's -- some of these can be better then a 20 yr tawny, but I'm not sure what kind I like other then I guess I prefer the unfiltered ones.
Reserves -- I like the price, and some of them are nice.
White port. I have had some 10 year, and young white ports that are ok, but aging them does not make them better for me.
Ruby port - Not my thing.
unfortified wine. I can drink it to be polite, but always prefer beer.

In addition to those 24 hours,
I also have some hours here and there over the next few days where I would love to squeeze port tastings into, but will be limited by how well my mother, and her retirement group can travel. Maybe I can talk them into taking a Bolt, and maybe I can't.
We technically have "all day" on Tuesday for anything I can talk people into, and I hope to get some of them onto the train into the Douro valley, but I will start another post about that topic.

TYM

There are lots of "introductory" options that most of the people on this forum would rather skip, consistent with your statement of "well, I have much higher hopes." Graham's does have some higher end tasting options, so I would keep that on your list, and I would definitely recommend Kopke as they have lots of good colheitas available for tasting. I would add a stop at

Bacchus Vini
https://goo.gl/maps/R7eWFaaBLE72
Right next to the bridge on the Porto side, this is a good place to sample tawny and colheita Ports. They have a good selection and Maria Fonseca, one of the owners, is very friendly.

It might be worth checking out the new(ish) Garrafeira Nacional shop in Porto: https://maps.app.goo.gl/zuLZGtCPMDkuLx2q7

And maybe consider

Lado
https://goo.gl/maps/derFgnGpgPU2
This is also a place to eat, but I list it here because they have a good selection of Ports to drink as well. I've only been here for dessert and Port (twice). I think this is or used to be associated with Avepod (Associação de Viticultores Engarrafadores dos Vinhos do Porto e Douro), which promotes smaller producers.

If you really enjoy Tawnies and Colheitas, I would highly recommend Pocas and Andresen. Pocas has a very nice tasting room experience and they will also ship any Port you buy there to the States. Try their 40 and 50 year old.

I don't know if Andresen has a tasting room per se., we were at their bottling operation for a tour and we sampled a lot of excellent Colheita and the 40 year-old Tawny, but that may have been a one off. Their Colheitas are worth checking out.

Those would be the two I would check out along with Kopke which is down the street from Sandeman. Have fun and report back.

Your group might be interested in a tour of the Ramos Pinto lodge and museum. The museum is housed in their old HQ building (which is right next to their new(er) lodge) and is much larger than the "museums" in places like Sandeman. If you want to tour, either stop by the day before or early in the morning in order to reserve your time and language. They hold tours all day, but in many languages so you need to select yours for your time before anyone else has reserved that time. You can arrange for a tasting after the tour, but as I recall it's a pretty basic tasting. 1 white, 1 ruby, 1 tawny or something similar.

I'd also recommend taking your group to the Sao Bento train station to see the tiles. It won't take long to visit, but it's very pretty.

On to the Port...

The Graham lodge does have some nice tastings now. Plus the Vinum restaurant is a great place for lunch or dinner.

I will second Eric's recommendation for both Bacchus Vini and for LaDo. BV is really a "must try" type of place because Maria has a much more eclectic selection of Port than most places. She's truly independent... most other places are at minimum sponsored and so tend to focus on their sponsor's (or owner's) Ports. LaDo is sort of sponsored, but it's by a group of smaller producers who all make really good white Port and tawny Port.

I'll also second Mike's recommendation of Pocas. Their tour and tasting options are rather nice, and they're not someone that you're likely to have tried before. I think their visitor's center is new within perhaps the last 10 years? I would also second the recommendation for Andresen, except that I don't believe they have a tasting room or visitor center. Every time I've been there has been on one of Roy's tours, and while the visits are very special they're also not available without someone (like Roy) to set it up for you.

Kopke on the waterfront. Noval on the waterfront. Quevedo just up the hill. Burmester just off the bridge on the Gaia side.

That's surely enough to keep you busy!

you guys rock!

I think I am twice as excited today, as I was yesterday.

TYM

I can't argue against anything already suggested but I'm going to add a couple of things.

(1) You really do need to visit Garrafeira Nacional on Rua das Flores. Although it's never 100% accurate, you can see what they have available by the glass from their website here. I visit when I can because it's my chance to taste things I normally don't get to try - like Ferreira 1904, Krohn 1958 and 1961...

(2) With the opening of the new Tivoli hotel, I believe that Kopke are also offering tours of their cellars, as well as tastings in the shop on the waterfront (and in the shop on Rua de Santa Marinha which stocks all 4 Sogevinus brands, opposite the Quevedo tasting room).

(3) Glenn's suggested tour of Ramos Pinto, and that's a great visit, full of history. Although the standard tasting at the end of the tour is an uninspiring white / ruby / tawny event, you can upgrade. So much so that I frequently call in to see what Vintage Port they have available by the glass - last time I was in Gaia I was drinking Ramos Pinto 1982 and 1983 by the glass from their tasting room.

(4) I believe that the Factory House is now open to visitors by appointment only. That might be another interesting historical sight for you to take your mother's retirement group. Factory House.

Enjoy!

Thanks Al!
and everyone else

Ok,

So I met someone IRL, who haunts these forums. I forget her name, since it was about a year ago... a

She said that according to some of you, the best value per dollar of port was a crusted port.

Is there a great way to try a variety of crusted ports in VNDG?

thanks!

Crusted Port is actually kind of rare. You should be able to find it in Porto and/or Gaia, but you may have to search a bit for it.

Alex's recommendation of Garrafeira Nacional as a visit might also be one of your best bets for finding Crusted Port.

IIRC Quevedo currently makes a Crusted, so a visit to their shop might also help you find some.

Off the top of my head... Dow, Graham, Fonseca, and I think Niepoort have also made Crusted Ports relatively recently.

If my memory serves me well, a friend of mine visited Porto about a year ago and was able to taste two different Crusted “vintages” side by side at the Churchill tasting rooms.

Is there a great way to try a variety of crusted ports in VNDG?

Crusted is quite rare, and I wouldn't expect you could find a great variety at any one location. When I read this query, Quevedo and Churchill were the first names that came to mind, and they've already been mentioned.

Thanks again everyone!
I have booked some tours (Poccas, Ramos Pinto), and plan to hit Bachas Vini and the Garrafeira Nacional.

I was debating booking one more at Calem Caves, for a Tawney vertical, or a return to Quevedo. I notice none of you recommended Calem, and I have tried some of their port in the past and found it pretty good, but not the best.

I expect to return to Kopke at some point as well.

Where would the Calem caves tour and tasting fit into your rankings for a Sunday AM tour? (Neipoort and Churchills are both sold out)

Thanks so much for your expertise!

Tym Lewis wrote:Thanks again everyone!
I have booked some tours (Poccas, Ramos Pinto), and plan to hit Bachas Vini and the Garrafeira Nacional.

I was debating booking one more at Calem Caves, for a Tawney vertical, or a return to Quevedo. I notice none of you recommended Calem, and I have tried some of their port in the past and found it pretty good, but not the best.

I expect to return to Kopke at some point as well.

Where would the Calem caves tour and tasting fit into your rankings for a Sunday AM tour? (Neipoort and Churchills are both sold out)

Thanks so much for your expertise!

Calem makes some nice tawnys. Their tour is, shall we say, very basic.

If you can, I’d book the grahams lodge tour and upgraded tasting if available.

Or swing into Quevedo for a nice tasting.

Calem do make good tawny Ports - and good Vintage Ports.

But if you want a good Calem tasting, don't do the lodge tour, which really is basic. I suggest instead you go to the Sogevinus shop on Rua Santa Marinha and tell them you'd like to taste a range of Calem Ports. I've always found them super nice and super helpful and very willing to put together a tailored tasting based loosely around one of their set menu tastings.

And because they are on the opposite side of the square from the Quevedo tasting room, you can visit there too if you finish early!

Andy Velebil wrote: ↑Tue Oct 07, 2025 6:28 pm If you can, I’d book the grahams lodge tour and upgraded tasting if available.

Yeah that's one of the nice things about the Graham's lodge - their upgraded tastings really are good upgrades, and they have a variety of upgraded tastings to suit just about anyone's preferences.

Al B. wrote: ↑Wed Oct 08, 2025 9:12 am Calem do make good tawny Ports - and good Vintage Ports.

But if you want a good Calem tasting, don't do the lodge tour, which really is basic. I suggest instead you go to the Sogevinus shop on Rua Santa Marinha and tell them you'd like to taste a range of Calem Ports. I've always found them super nice and super helpful and very willing to put together a tailored tasting based loosely around one of their set menu tastings.

And because they are on the opposite side of the square from the Quevedo tasting room, you can visit there too if you finish early!

Excellent advice, and if you're lucky Christiana might be there when you visit the Sogevinus shop! (Which I suppose they'll be rebranding to the Kopke Group shop now?)

Al B. wrote: ↑Wed Oct 08, 2025 9:12 am And because they are on the opposite side of the square from the Quevedo tasting room, you can visit there too if you finish early!

If you are driving, much better to start at Sogevinus than Quevedo according to Google. I was amused by the directions from Quevedo to Sogevinus:

The Taylor's tasting room has recently had some of their high end wines to taste by the glass.