Europe > Portugal > Northern Portugal > Douro Valley > Articles > Raising a Glass in Portugal

“There was one Canadian tourist whose life dream was to join in the foot crushing of the grapes, known as the lagar,” explained our host at the Quinta da Pacheca. “He was so happy that he went all the way to Lisbon with red legs!”

Here in the quintas or vineyards of the Douro Valley in northern Portugal, heritage is still important. And though only a small number of quintas use the lagar for much of their production, even big companies still use it to make their best vintage port wine.

Traditionally at harvest time in September/October the women would cut (pick) the grapes and then the men would carry them to the winery in large baskets hoisted onto their shoulders. There at day’s end the strenuous work of the lagar or foot crushing would be carried out to music and singing. Now plastic containers of regulation size ensure there are not too many grapes beginning the crushing process prematurely.

But living history is being protected, with the entire wine-growing region along the banks of the River Douro having been listed as World Heritage in January. The postcard picture of the terraced hillsides covered with rows of vines reminds us of man’s endeavours over centuries, as the whole process of planting was once done by hand. Much of this remains today, though now there is also cultivation which is partly mechanized, and a third type where plantings are done vertically.

I was able to see all three styles of cultivation at the Quinta de S. Luiz near the village of Pinhão, one of the quintas owned by the company founded by German diplomat Cristiano Kopke in the 17th century. From the hilltop there was a panoramic view of the cultivated terraces supported by stone walls, the wide river, and the train winding its way around the bends.

Down almost every road in the Douro valley there is another quinta. And the reason for all this activity? The famous port wine. A wine discovered by the British in the 17th century, and whose reputation has spread far and wide since then.

When England and France were at loggerheads in the 1600s, the wines of Bordeaux were off limits to the English gentry. So the merchants of a small English colony in Portugal, just north of Porto, shipped home an offering of the rich, aromatic wines from the Douro. So popular were they that the English created a huge demand, and so in the 1700’s some wine traders fraudulently added other wine and even elderberry juice to the blend to make up the volume, causing the market to collapse when consumers saw the drop in quality.

The solution was engineered by the Marquis de Pombal in 1756 when he created what was virtually the world’s first demarcated wine region, with a set of strict controls, after which the trade with England resumed in earnest.

Today, such controls are tighter than ever. The Port Wine Institute oversees quality control and categorization, with winemakers even needing permission to make a vintage port. Permission that is based on the assessed quality of the grapes.

Meanwhile the Casa Douro is in charge of production by the 100,000 odd vineyard proprietors, most of whom have as little as one hectare under cultivation. This body decides how much port wine each producer is allowed to make in a given year. The result of this tight control is quality that can be consistently relied upon.

Port wines like the Castelhino Vintage 1997, and the two Pocas family wines LBV 1996 and Vintage 1997 won gold medals at the 2001 International Wine Challenge in London, showing that quality is as exceptional today as it has been in the past.

With such a reputation, it is no wonder that the Douro area draws an increasing number of tourists. The body co-ordinating tourism in the valley is The Port Wine Route (Rota do Vinho do Porto), which operates from the main tourist centre in the valley, Peso da Régua.

I took the train from Porto to Peso da Régua, a scenic way to travel, especially along the last section where the line follows the river, before my friend and guide Luis Felipe drove us around the various quintas of the Lower Corgo area, to the colourful village of Pinhão overlooking the river, and on to the town of Vila Real.

From April to October there are also boat cruises from Porto, which come up river through the series of locks and dams which have made for a much calmer journey than it once was.

In the old days the barrels of port wine were transported down river on the small boats known as rabelos, navigating their way through 200 sets of rapids, as well as whirlpools and waterfalls. The rabelo was a flat-bottomed wooden boat with a sail, and a raised rear platform where the seamen stood to control the large rudder, which was necessary to deal with the strong currents of the Douro.

And so the wine reached Porto, to be stored and aged in the big warehouse buildings of the Vila Nova de Gaia, a practice that continues to this day. Tasting sessions are available and purchases can be made at the various wine lodges.

Each of the large companies has its own story. Some have been British owned since the early days, others are run by Portuguese families, and some have been taken over by French wine houses.

Looking for a sense of history, I visited the Ramos Pinto Cellars. The Ramos Pinto firm was established in 1880 by Adriano, who was only in his twenties, and who had very different ideas to his more established competitors. Typewriters replaced scribes, artists were employed to create seductive posters and design labels, and surprising free gifts were enclosed with shipments to important customers. He even had a sculpted display made for the 1908 exhibition in Brazil.

So advertising and marketing came to the port wine business. That, together with the fact that quality was controlled by shipping his wine in bottles at a time when most houses still shipped it in bulk, saw Ramos Pinto’s business prosper. Though Ramos Pinto is now owned by a French company, it is still run by the Portuguese family using traditional methods, including the foot crushing lagar for the vintage ports.

Adriano’s influence can be seen along the riverfront of the Vila Nova de Gaia, where the various port wine houses have their signs proclaiming themselves to the world. The Ramos Pinto sign employs the image from one of the early advertising posters, a couple looking into each other’s eyes as they are offered a glass of port wine by Cupid.

And beyond the signs? Another image from days gone by, the rabelos lie idle along the waterfront. A reminder that the toil and hardship of ordinary men and women over the centuries has made the Douro port wine one of life’s lasting pleasures.

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