4-NIGHT TOUR - Porto and the Douro Valley, 23-27 September 2025
After the thundering success of our Spectator Wine Club tours to Bordeaux, Champagne and Hungary last year, we’re delighted to announce our first assault on Porto and the Douro Valley. All our trips are overseen by our good friends at Kirker Holidays, the multi-award-winning luxury travel specialists.
Led by drinks editor Jonathan Ray, you will visit tip-top wineries – several of which don’t normally welcome visitors – and drink wines not normally on offer. You will mingle with fellow Spectator readers and, we promise, will not go thirsty. Think of our tours as roving and very genial, modestly-sized drinks parties. Do join us!
4 nights - 23-27 September
At the mouth of the Douro River, Porto is the gateway to the dramatic valley which stretches as far as the plains of Castille and is home to spectacular terraced vineyards from which the eponymous wine is produced. The wine, of course, is utterly unique, be it a nutty, raisiny, tawny port; an easy-drinking ruby; a full-blown vintage or simply a Porto Tónico (white port and tonic) - there are few finer aperitifs. The region’s table wines are also increasingly impressive, and we will sample these alongside the more famous exports during a tour taking us from the lodges of Vila Nova de Gaia, where the ports are brought to mature in oak barrels, to the quintas up the Douro Valley itself, where harvest season will be in full swing. We will be accompanied by The Spectator’s own Jonathan Ray, and will visit such celebrated producers as Graham’s, Dow’s, Taylor’s, Quinta do Noval and Quinta de la Rosa; meet such key players as Sophia Bergqvist, Adrian Bridge, Christian Seely and Paul Symington; enjoy private tours of World of Wine and dine at the fabled Factory House, the exclusive club of British-owned port shippers founded in 1727.
ITINERARY
Day 1 - We will fly to Porto, where we will be met by our private transfer and whisked to the hotel Infante de Sagres (4* Superior) for our first two nights. In the evening we will walk to the Rua Infante Dom Henrique, named after Henry the Navigator, where we find a collection of buildings which recall the British influence in the city. Chief among them is the Factory House, a grand 18th century mansion which served as the meeting place for British wine traders and retains a cellar of over 15,000 bottles. We will enjoy a very special private dinner in the spectacular dining room, hosted by Adrian Bridge, MD and Chairman of Taylor Fladgate, founded in 1692, owners of such great port houses as Taylor’s, Croft and Fonseca.
Day 2 - This morning we will begin at Graham’s Lodge in Gaia, one of the oldest of the traditional family-owned port houses which still dominate the trade, and holder of the Royal Warrant. Not normally open to walk-in visitors, here we will meet Paul Symington, the former chairman of Symington Family Estates, owners of Dow's, Graham’s and Warre’s, for a special tasting followed by lunch. In the afternoon we will visit the newly opened World of Wine Museum, which explains more about the history and science of viticulture in the Douro Valley.
Day 3 - Today we board the train for the two-hour journey to Regua. The tracks hug the riverbank as we head upstream and the scenery is famously striking with soaring terraced vineyards on either side. We will lunch with owner Sophia Bergqvist at the dramatically situated Quinta de la Rosa, famed for both its ports and table wines, before arriving at Quinta da Pacheca (5*), where we stay for the next two nights. Here we will enjoy a tour and tasting and the chance to tread the grapes. This is followed by a traditional grape harvest dinner at the hotel’s restaurant including a selection of carefully-chosen local wines.
Day 4 - Today will be devoted to exploring the vineyards, starting with a tour of the Quinta do Bomfim with lunch at this elegant winery just outside Pinhão. Acquired by George Warre for Dow’s in 1896, Quinta do Bomfim is ideally located with south-facing schist slopes arranged in vineyard terraces which have yielded Dow’s memorable Vintage Ports for over a century. We are visiting during harvest season and the winery will be full of life. All the grapes harvested at the property are taken to the small on-site winery where they are trodden in modern lagares, in the traditional method developed over hundreds of years. We enjoy a short cruise on the Douro this afternoon and have a light dinner at the hotel.
Day 5 - This morning we visit Quinta do Noval for a tasting and lunch hosted by this fabled estate’s MD, Christian Seely. Then it’s back to Porto airport and London.
PRICE £3,196, Single Supplement £596
Our prices are per person, based on the shared occupancy of a twin/double room. Supplement for single occupancy as shown.
Flights with Air Portugal (TAP): Depart Gatwick at 12:10, arrive Porto at 14:30 Depart Porto at 18:05, arrive Gatwick at 20:25 Flight times subject to change – regional departures available on request.
WHAT WE INCLUDE
• Return flights
• Four nights’ accommodation with breakfast
• Three dinners and three lunches
• Wine tastings as described
• All sightseeing, entrances fees and gratuities
• The services of Spectator Drinks Editor, Jonathan Ray
For more information and to register your interest please speak to an expert at Kirker Travel on 020 7593 2288
