Many years later, in 1985, as a result of massive emigration, urban migration or bad demand projection, the Spanish side stopped the train connections to the Portuguese border. Three years later, in 1988 the Portuguese Prime Minister Mário Soares took a similar decision and canceled the connection to Barca d’Alva. The last train stop from Porto was now Pocinho, located 19km northwest of Barca d’Alva. Since then, between Barca d’Alva and Pocinho lies a dead railroad, almost eaten by the nature. But on this narrow path you can enjoy breathtaking landscapes of the Douro valley. There, you feel an outsider, totally out of place. Despite the very dry and arid weather conditions, locals insist in getting something from the land, and plant olive trees, vines, almond trees and sometimes citric trees along the river. These natives never give up!

Few months ago my friend and former blogger here, Pedro, challenged his friends to walk from Freixo de Espada à Cinta to Pocinho in two days. And that is what we did last weekend. First day, on Saturday, we walked from the beautiful, old and generous town of Freixo de Espada à Cinta to Barca d’Alva. Once in Barca d’Alva and after a refreshing dive in the Douro river and a beer at Chico’s Bar, we followed the old and inactive railroad and walked a couple of km further west. At 7.30pm, after walking for 10 hours, we found an abandoned house next to the railroad and made it our base for that night.

On the next morning, after sleeping for 7 hours outside under an intense and cool moonlight, and without any incident, we continued to walk along the old railroad towards Pocinho. We got there by 4.30pm, very tired, but on time to catch the train to Porto. On our way to Pocinho we crossed several vineyards, among them Quinta da Granja (Ferreira), a new plantation and hotel of Quinta do Vallado, Quinta da Cabreira (to Quinta do Crasto) and Quinta de Castelo Melhor (Duorum). In total we walked over 50 km, many hours with temperatures above 30ºC. We figured out how hard and boring is to walk along the railroad – stones – railway s – stones – wood stave – stones…. But with good friends and an unforgettable view this marathon is well worth. It was a weekend to remember, and certainly to share with you as this is among the most extraordinary adventures I have ever done.

Oscar

Located in the south of Catalunya, Spain, few dozen kilometres from the Mediterranean sea, Priorat reminds me what was probably the Douro of the XVII, XVIII and XIX centuries. I could see it in every corner, the passion of the people for the vines, the respect for the traditions, the soils made out of schist, the olive trees on the edges of the steep vineyards.

Many of the steep hills of the Priorat look like those of the Douro. But in the Priorat, the old vines are still grown on the hillside with no terrace, making it impossible for tractors to get there and very hard for working animals or human beings to climb over. The reason for not having a terrace is because the vines are so old that growers do not want to pull up their vines and replace by new ones. The quality of the grapes from old vines, they believe -and so do I – is so much better than the new vines, that it is well worth the higher production costs. The wines turn out being elegant, rich and tremendously complex. Age worth for sure, but also great when young. Ryan Opaz from Catavino mentions in this article the similarities between Douro and Priorat wines, which is interesting due to proximity of terroir.

There is one thing missing in Priorat that would certainly enrich its landscape: a river. A wide river, and then its similarities with the Douro would be enormous. I recommend you go there and see the vines, get to know the people and enjoy the landscape with no moderation!

Oscar

Last year a new transport – cable car – started operating in Vila Nova de Gaia, right across the Luiz I bridge, connecting Jardim do Morro to Cais de Gaia. The whole trip, which last for some minutes, gives us a wonderful view of the old Porto area, the Port Wine lodges in Gaia as well as a view of the remarkable Luiz I bridgefrom 1886. I’ve recently made a video inside of a cabin in which I try to show a little of what you can find. Sunset time is, in my opinion, the best period to ride the cable car. Not sure whether you can take your glass of Port on board, but I’m sure it would taste so good!! Also, the upper entrance of the cable car is connected to the metro, which stops at Jardim do Morro, right after Luiz I bridge. And the lower entrance  is a couple of hundred meters away from Quevedo’s lodge, in Rua de Santa Marinha 77. Come to say hello when you are around!

Oscar

In these ten years, since the classification from UNESCO, several things changed in the Douro for better. The overall quality of vine growing, wine making and tourism accommodation all improved a lot in this decade. And tourism is exactly what I think is the next big challenge for the Douro. To take advantage of the potential of the region, developing it as a exclusive wine destination region is what shall occupy all of us involved in the daily business of the Douro. And for this, UNESCO’s classification is also very important.

Take a look at the ceremony program that is taking place today at Peso da Régua.

Oscar

If you only have one day to visit the region, make sure you go to the Douro as early as possible. A car will help you moving around,  because one of the things that is hard to find in the Douro is public transportation. However, there is a train line that connects the Douro and Porto. The first train from Porto – Campanhã to Régua leaves Porto at 6.35am and gets to Régua at 8.52am. In total, you have 13 daily connections between Porto and Régua during a week-day and 12 on the weekend.

If you plan to go further east to Pinhão or Ferradosa, the first train from Porto is at 7.25am, arriving in Pinhão at 9.41am and in Ferradosa at 10.13am. To go back to Porto from Ferradosa, the last train is at 5.55pm and from Pinhão at 6.30pm, arriving in Porto Campanhã at 11.10pm. Trains’ timetables change often, not always for better, so please check CP – Comboios de Portugal site before starting your journey.

If you are traveling by train, you better schedule visits to wineries in advance and ask winemakers to pick you up, if they can. Otherwise, you will have to take a taxi. By bus, you can go from Régua to Lamego, from Régua to Pinhão and to S. João da Pesqueira, but there are very few buses that run everyday.

If you are in Régua, you must go to the Douro Museum. It is a very nice place where you can better understand the history of the region and its people. Take a look as well at the Casa do Douro building, which was once a very important organization in the regulation of Port Wine industry. Rota do Vinho do Porto may help you find wineries that are open to receive you.

Further East there is the small village of Pinhão. Due to its location, on the north bank of the Douro river, at the mouth of the Pinhão river, it has a very beautiful landscape, with plenty of Quintas to visit. You will find several famous wineries, but don’t forget to contact those you want to visit in advance to ensure that they’re ready to receive you. In Pinhão, right in front of the train station, you will find one of the nicest hotels in the Douro, The Vintage House.

If going to Ferradosa, located slightly farther east and nestled at the beginning of the sub-region of Douro Superior, you will also need to schedule your trip in advance. In Ferradosa there is no buildings or houses, but a very small train station, a nice restaurant located 10 minutes from the station and the most beautiful landscape in the Douro valley. It is a great place to see, but there are no taxis or buses at the station, and public transportation is poor to say the least. Again, call taxi or wineries prior to your visit so that they may pick you up. Ferradosa train station serves S. João da Pesqueira, the town where our winery and the most of our vineyards are located. Maybe because I’m from here, I consider this area to be one of the most stunning views in the Douro. That being said, you’re always invited to come check it out yourself!

There are plenty of other places you can visit, such as: São Salvador do Mundo, São Leonardo da Galafura or the city of Lamego, but to avoid making this post too large, leave your comments and I will try to help you organizing your trip to the Douro valley.

Oscar

Due to their wedding, Mouna and Andreas gave me one of the best cultural experiences of my life, which I will never forget. The wedding was in Niamey, the capital of Niger, a landlocked country located in Western Africa. This was my first time in Africa and I was very excited for that, a continent with such a vast history and culture, with so many different landscapes and one of the most intact continents of the world.

Very differently from the European weddings, which usually last for half a day, celebrations of this weeding lasted for three days and four nights. It started on Wednesday with a welcome dinner for all the family and friends of the bride and groom. After eating very tasty and sometimes spicy local food and drinking a red iced tea called bissap (which I loved and brought some with me to Portugal), we started pushing the groom to the pool. For big surprise of the locals, but as expect when you start playing these games, the night finished with the groom, one of our friends and me in the pool, with no time for undressing.

On the next day, Thursday, there was a big session to paint hands and feet of the ladies, which special emphases on the painting the bride would show when meeting the groom after the religious ceremony. On the other side, men had a more relaxed day, with plenty of time to swim and play in the pool.

On Friday was the religious ceremony. As this was a Muslim wedding, I was eager to see and know how all this would be. There were plenty of differencies, starting by the dressing code: everybody on local dresses. But beside that, as the bride’s mum is a Tuareg descent, all the young men, groom’s father included, were dressing the famous turban. The turban is used by the Tuareg for fending off the desert sand and protecting the head and face from very high temperatures and strong sunlight. We were far away from the desert but to preserve local culture, we were with a turban on. The religious ceremony itself, which lasted for around 30 minutes, counted with the participation of sultans from all around Niger. Surprisingly for me, neither the bride or the groom attended to it. The bride was at her parents house and the groom in another house of the family, both located in the street where the ceremony was happening. Also women were not allowed to participate, they were all at bride’s parents house, listing to the canticles through the loudspeakers installed under the tent where all men were. The pinnacle of the ceremony happens when representatives from groom’s family, bride’s family and church discuss the dowry groom’s family would pay for marrying the bride. In the end, Andreas paid a symbolic amount for Mouna and received cows and goats from the Mouna family as gifts. It was a great deal for him!

On the next day, Saturday, and next-to-last day of our visit, was the civil ceremony, presided by Niamey’s Mayor. There I was feeling at home, as this was similar of what we are used to have in Europe. Also the dressing code was similar to ours, suits for men and long dresses for ladies. And right after leaving the house and going to the hotel where the civil wedding would take place, I understood why suit is not very popular in a country with top temperatures of 40º and humidity over 90% all the time. The party ended late in the night, or better said, early in the morning, after sunrise. It seemed hard to keep dancing all night long, but in such a nice hotel over the Niger river, hanging out with happy people that imbue you of energy, you never feel tired.

And it’s because of these nice, always smiling and happy people that I fell in love with Africa. I want to go back soon, to Niger and to other African countries. For the love of Andreas and Mouna!

Here you can find photos of all the trip to Niger. If there is something you would like leave a comment.

Oscar

I want to go back and see the Douro from there. Actually, if I could, I would build my house there!

Oscar

Oscar

From 9am to 6pm GMT all the steps of a harvesting in the Douro will be broadcast, including the fortification of must for Port Wine. At 5pm there will be an audio connection with the conference room in the BWT, where Ryan Opaz, from Catavino, will be speaking about Social Media in Action.

The S. João da Pesqueira’s Town Hall is providing the technology and video experts for the realization of the live streaming to the BTW. This last one offers the  opportunity to on/off traders and press visitors, to taste small productions of exclusive wines. Quevedo has great expectations about this wine fair as a way to find an importer or distributor for its wines and Ports in the United Kingdom.

After launching the first Port Wine producer blog, Quevedo (which currently grows 250 acres of wines and 50 acres of organic olive trees in S. João da Pesqueira, Douro, Portugal) reinforces its commitment with new technologies using them as a direct and interactive way to communicate with the wine lovers, becoming the first Port producer to stream live the harvest.

We would like to invite you to visit our winery and our vineyards in the Douro valley.

But as some reports and data show, recession is not always a bad thing for the wine business. I have seen a lot of people drinking wine, wine shops and the wine sections of supermarkets have people buying and importers seem to be still looking for European wines.

Thus, the current market situation is not a reason to put me down and I will not throw in the towel: my mission is clear, to find an importer for our wines!

This photo was taken at 5.20am from our friends’ apartment in New Jersey.

Oscar