Continuing our afternoon, we had a late lunch at the restaurant recommended by José, Adega São Nicolau (meaning Winery on St. Nicholas Road). It’s really small and has some tables outside, but even though they had umbrellas, in the rain it was pretty wet. There was about a 45-minute wait, so we put our name on the list. The inside of the restaurant made you feel like you were inside a wine barrel! For an appetizer, we decided to try the local bread sausage. We are glad we tried it, but no one desired to order it again during the trip. For entrees, I had grilled sea bass, Paula had shrimp, Dave and Keith both had beef dishes. We asked the waitress to recommend a bottle of Vinho Verde for us. All our selections were excellent.

I don’t remember whose idea it was or just one of those sudden collective decisions, we decided to ask if we could get a reservation for dinner the next night. The waitress checked as the next day was a holiday and we expected they’d be totally booked, but she came back to let us know they did have a table for 4 available but only at 7pm. We all said, “that’s perfect!” at the same time! Eating earlier than the locals worked in our favor.

It was after 3pm and we needed to head to Gaia if we wanted to make any port house tours. We decided to go to Taylor-Fladgate (usually just called Taylor’s), about a 1.6 km walk from the restaurant. We made a brief stop by the apartment on the way. Crossing the Dom Luis I Bridge on the lower level gave good views along the river and of course the route was mostly flat… until we got to the turn to go “up” to Taylor’s – 40m (about 130ft) elevation change on more narrow, uneven sidewalks and cobblestone streets. We arrived about 3:50pm, in plenty of time to do the basic self-guided audio tour with port tasting at the end.

The audio tour was very informative. Founded in 1682, Taylor’s is one of the oldest port houses and focuses exclusively on port wines. If you are unfamiliar with Port, it is a wine fortified with brandy, which the British discovered helped preserve it for shipping to England. The result is a wine with an alcohol content between 18-22% ABV. In Portugal, it is often drunk as an aperitif, as well as with dinner and/or after dinner. The grapes are grown upriver in the Douro Valley, and the product shipped in barrels down the river, traditionally on the rabelo boats seen here which could maneuver the Douro rapids.

Today, the rapids have been tamed by dams. The name, “Port”, comes from the town of Porto, from which the wine was shipped. Traditionally, Port wine is aged in barrels in port houses built on the Vila Nova de Gaia hillside, but today many vineyards in Douro Valley age and bottle their wine locally. Many winemakers also make traditional table wines. Taylor’s has a wide range of Port drinks and price ranges in its attempt to attract new customers. In addition to the more well-known Ruby and Tawny Ports, there are also White Ports, and even a “portonic” (White Port and Tonic). There are also then many additional subcategories such as Late Bottled Vintage (LBVs), Vintage, and Single Harvest.

Taylor’s website has a very thorough history of Port, if you are interested in learning more. Before we left for Portugal, we watched a documentary called “A Year in Port” from 2016 on Amazon Prime which was also very informative.

For the basic tasting, there was a White Port (Chip Dry), a Ruby Port (LBV), and the Chip Dry & Tonic. Dave added a 10-year Tawny Port, which we all sampled. We ended up getting a small bottle (375ml) of the LBV to take with us.

As we returned to the Ribeira de Gaia admiring the views and architecture, we also stopped in a chocolate store to pick-up a little something to go with our Port later!

All-in-all it was a great day in Porto despite the weather in the morning and my fall (see Note 35). Tomorrow is a full-day tour to Braga and Guimarães with a guide.