High Douro Wine Region – Dave and Kay's Travel Adventures

Saturday, August 2nd, 2025

This morning we sailed back down the Douro River along the High Douro Wine Region.

We arrived at the Pocinho Dam was just after we started sailing. In this lock we went down 72 feet!

The Ama Douro continued toward the second lock, the Valeira Dam. At this lock we went down 110 feet. Below is a short video of the lock opening once the water level went down!

After we got out of the lock it was time for a Cooking Demo. The Pastry Chef Humrani gave us the recipe and demonstrated how to make Pastéis de Nata! It will be fun to try this with gluten free pastry!

vineyards along the High Douro Wine Region

As we were sitting in the restaurant we watch seaplane after seaplane dip into the river for water and then flying off to the wildfires!

We docked at Pinhão and had several hours to explore the small town. It was a major stop for cruise boats and was a gateway to port country.

One of Portugal’s rail routes passed through Pinhão on its way from Porto. Their train station was decorated with 21 azulejo (tiles) panels. They were blue and white scenes that depicted local life that included the grape harvest.

Pinhão Train Station and the Azulejo panels.

After our free time we had a visit to Quinta da Roêda that included a Port wine tasting. The winery was established in 1588 and was the oldest port company in operation. In 1736, the first Croft family member became a partner in the Port firm. In 1889, the Crofts acquired the famous estate of Quinta da Roêda. This estate remained the same source of wine for the firm’s vintage Ports to this day.

The Visitor’s Center was in the former stables of the estate. We had a guided tour. In about a month it would be harvest time for the port grapes. You could experience treading the grapes in the estate’s granite treading tanks in which the wine is made. Treading was also known as grape stomping! It was a traditional winemaking method where the grapes were crushed underfoot in large vats to release their juice and this began the fermentation process. It would have been a great experience if we had timed it during the harvesting! Even today the grapes were picked by hand.

A lot of grapes almost ready for harvesting!

On our tour we saw the various Port wine making stages.

Then it was time to taste the Croft Port wines. We tasted the Croft Pink Port and the Croft Reserve Port. If you like Port wine these were delicious.

This evening we left the ship and experienced an authentic, homemade Portuguese dinner in Favaios. With 160 years of existence, Quinta da Avessada was situated on the vineyard plateau of Favaios. It was a historic village that was located in the Douro Valley. It was the primary producer of Muscatel wine. Muscatel wine was a fruity fortified wine made from Muscat grapes. It offered stunning views of the terraced vineyards and the Douro Valley.

As we climbed higher in altitude we could see the smoke from some of the wildfires.

The Quinta da Avessada was located at 1968 feet above sea level. The estate had 1000 hectares or a little over 2,471 acres of planted area. When we arrived we were given a glass of the Muscatel Wine.

Amazing views from the Quinta’s terrace.

On our way back to the Ama Douro, the sky was eerie due to the wildfires.

Other than the wildfires, it was a fantastic day in the High Douro Wine region!

Thursday, July 31st, 2025

This morning we set sail along the UNESCO-listed High Douro Wine Region. Not long after sailing we came to the Bagaúste Dam. The difference in the water level was 84 feet.

The Bagaúste Dam lock is on the far right.

The weather was perfect for sitting on deck to view the beautiful High Douro Wine region. Many of the vineyards had signs with their name.

A couple of hours later we approached the Valeira Dam with a 109 feet change of water level. We had to wait for another riverboat to pass through before out turn. The river was narrow.

These really illustrated how narrow the Douro can get.

It really was beautiful sailing along the High Douro Wine region. It was endless vineyards and quintas (wine estates). In the early 16th century, Manuel I ordered the widening of fishing channels along the Douro river because there was a growing demand for port! The sailors requested barrel after barrel of the fortified wine to get them through the long sea voyages.

Before lunch our three guides “taught” a Portuguese language lesson! They covered basic words and phrases. It was a fun hour. Of course, ask us what we remembered.

This afternoon the Ama Douro stopped at the Pocinho dock to let us disembark for our afternoon tour. A town we passed on our way to the Castelo Rodrigo.

We went to the Castelo Rodrigo which sat on a hilltop. It was a small fortified medieval settlement with great views.

The town had medieval charm with its winding cobblestone streets, old walls, and traditional houses.

We saw the 16th century pillory in the main square where town gatherings and announcements took place. It stood on a five-step pedestal and topped with an octagonal enclosure with eight twisted colonnettes.

We walked around the town on the cobblestone streets. You had to be careful when walking up and down with the uneven stones.

Below was the Parish Church that was founded in the 13th century. It was restored in the 13th century. It had a wooden ceiling painted with scenes of Saints, 18th century blue and white tiles in the chancel and Hispanic-Arab tiles at the high altar.