Portugal Wine Tours — Highlights and Travel Tips
Highlights of Portugal wine tours
- Add the Douro Valley, Portugal’s (and the world’s) largest manufacturer of Port wines, to your wine tasting bucket list. Spend the day exploring the area’s iconic terracing vineyards and restaurants along the riverbanks. For a special experience, take a tour in September during the harvest season. Get involved in centuries-old traditions, like grape treading, followed by a picnic amongst the vines.
- Meet coopers (artisans of wooden wine barrels) and get educated on the wine aging process in the underground cellars of Porto. Join food and wine tours or wine walking tours to different bars, sampling various ports, reds and whites, accompanied by petiscos (Portuguese tapas). Pop into the city’s interactive WOW (World of Wine) museum.
- Follow the Vinho Verde Route (also called the Green Wine Trail), renowned for its green grapes that produce a light, fruity wine and landscapes that match in color. From Porto, cross through Minho, Amarante and Lima Valley, ending near the Spanish border.
- In Amarante (the halfway mark between Porto and the Douro Valley), red wines and rosé (Rosado) reign supreme. Ditch the cars and venture on a biking wine-tasting tour at local wineries. Certain quintas also organize hiking trips through the area.
- Pretend to be a wine-maker for the day in the up-and-coming Dão region, known for its lighter blends. Make it a point of sampling its specialty red: Dão Jaen. If you are traveling in September, attend the annual Dão Wine Fair in Viseu city.
- Discover where corks are made in Alentejo. When you are done with that, try its incredible offering. Alentejo is known for its diverse and seasonal food such as eel stew, thistle soup, goose barnacle.
- Tropical paradise beckons in Madeira, originators of the famous sweet Madeira wine — first produced here circa 15th century. Learn about Madeira’s unique manufacturing processes (where steel barrels are artificially heated) and taste its iconic fortified red wines.
- Head to the extended coastline of the Algarve and its four official wine-producing subregions (Portimão, Lagos, Tavira and Lagoa). Visit Mediterranean-style vineyards and wineries during wine tours in the Algarve for a taste of Southern Portugal’s easy-drinking reds.
- Wine tours in Lisbon veer slightly outside its pretty pastel city walls into its wine region, known as Estremadura. Choose food and wine tasting tours in Arrábida National Park, or experience your tour via horseback in Setúbal (famed for its sweet, honey-colored dessert wine, Moscatel de Setúbal).
Travel tips for wine trips in Portugal
- Know the different wine quality statuses in Portugal (labeled on the bottle), including DOC (top-tier wines from Portugal’s 31 official DOC areas) and Vinho Regional (listed as IGP).
- Vinho tinto means red wine; vinho branco refers to white wine.
- The best time for wine tastings and tours in Portugal is spring time and early summer (April to June) for ideal summery conditions, as well as in September when it’s harvest time.
- Traveling on a budget? Opt for shorter half-day wine tours in Portugal or plan your trip during the shoulder season for cheaper hotel rates and tour prices. There’s also WWOOFing vineyard volunteer experiences in the Algarve.
- Renting a car allows for relaxed and unrushed tours of vineyards throughout Portugal. The distance between Lisbon and Porto is three hours; Porto to Douro Valley is 1.5 hours. A valid international driver’s license is required. And remember, no drinking and driving.
- Other spectacular wine regions that offer the best wine tastings and tours in Portugal are Trás-os-Montes, Beira Interior, and the Azores Islands.