The region around Pinhão and São João da Pesqueira is considered to be the centre of port production, and is known for its picturesque quintas (estates clinging on to almost vertical slopes dropping down to the river.)
The wine-producing Douro region is the third oldest protected wine region
in the world after Chianti, in 1716 and Tokaj, in 1730. Over the course of
almost two millennia, the schist slopes of the Douro Valley created a
unique wine-growing landscape and exceptional wine. More than a gift of
nature, Port Wine is, in essence, this historical thickness, a collective
cultural heritage of work and experiences, knowledge and art, that
generations and generations have accumulated. Port Wine was and is a key
product of the national economy and even more a symbolic value that
distinctly represents Portugueseness in the world.
Port became very popular in England after the Methuen Treaty of 1703, when merchants were permitted to import it at a low duty, while war with France deprived English wine drinkers of French wine. British importers could be credited for recognising that a smooth, already fortified wine that would appeal to English palates would survive the trip to London.
Wine tourism is a modality that has attracted thousands of tourists to
Portugal. Visit us and let yourself be dazzled by the Portuguese
landscapes and wine.
Click here to more information about
Enoturismo in Portugal