Portugal Wine Tour
Dive into the exquisite world of Portuguese wines and savor the flavors of tradition and innovation.
Tour Overview
Northern Portugal is a land defined by dramatic, rugged landscapes, ancient vineyards and native grape varieties. You’ll discover diverse wine styles and traditions that go beyond the well-known fortified wines and Vinho Verde.
We'll start by heading north to the Minho Valley, touching the Spanish border, where you'll discover that Vinho Verde is far more complex and attention-worthy than thought.
South of Porto, the wild and isolated Dão has a landscape covered with massive granite boulders and wizened old vines with incredible stories to tell— and those stories will arrive in your glass. In neighboring Bairrada, the Atlantic influence is much more keenly felt. Here, the sensitive red grape, Baga, is the focus: a high quality variety that winemakers have mastered and refined over the past few decades. The region’s sparkling wine tradition also holds surprises to be discovered.
Finally, we’ll travel deep into the Douro valley, marvelling at its vast vineyard terraces, centenarian vineyards and complex red wines. The Douro Valley harbors a vast variety of climate zones and wine styles, setting the stage for our final visit to a Port lodge in Vila Nova de Gaia. Here, we will taste back through the decades, illustrating Port’s diverse styles and categories, which will serve as the perfectly sweet conclusion to our journey.
What's Included
Join wine expert and journalist Simon Woolf for an immersive experience featuring jaw-dropping landscapes, exclusive tastings and gourmet pairings.
Instruction by Simon Woolf, wine writer and co-author of Foot-Trodden: Portugal and the Wines That Time Forgot
Professional-level tours and tastings at top-quality wine producers
Services of a tour manager, providing customer service and logistics support
3 nights at the 4-star Porto Royal Bridges Hotel
2 nights at Vila Galé Douro Vineyards Hotel
5 buffet breakfasts
5 winery lunches with top-quality wines of the region
2 gourmet dinners paired with fine wines of the region
Deluxe, air-conditioned coach transportation with bottled water on-board
Price per-person, double occupancy. Download the brochure to get detailed pricing.
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Meet Your Expert Guides
Simon Woolf
Your Wine Tour Instructor
Simon Woolf has been a regular visitor to Northern Portugal for over a decade, extolling the values of its varied output to the world through his work as a wine writer and journalist. Simon writes for international wine titles such as Decanter, World of Fine Wine and Noble Rot. He also works as a wine educator, regularly presenting for WSG and also as a judge for the Decanter World Wine Awards. He focuses on winemakers and growers who work organically in the vineyards and with minimal intervention in the cellar. Simon is the award-winning author of two books, Amber Revolution and (with Ryan Opaz) Foot Trodden: Portugal and the Wines That Time Forgot. Both were New York Times Wine Books of the Year upon publication, and Foot Trodden was shortlisted for a James Beard award.
Ryan Opaz
Your Wine Tour Manager
You will benefit from not just one but two Portuguese wine experts on this trip. Ryan has lived in Portugal since 2012, and runs a successful wine and food tour company in Portugal. Following 15 years of writing about Iberian food, wines, and culture, Ryan's mission is to help his guests discover Portugal’s diverse wines, foods, and landscapes. Ryan knows his adopted homeland inside out, and we are very privileged to benefit from his logistical experience and encyclopedic knowledge of the regions and winemakers that we'll visit. Ryan is also co-author and photographer of Foot-Trodden: Portugal and the Wines That Time Forgot, together with Simon Woolf.
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What Makes WSG Educational Tours Unique?
Top wine industry professionals and regional experts as instructors
Service of tour manager offering customer service and logistics support
Professional-level visits with educational objectives
Tastings of dozens of top-quality wines during estate visits and included meals
Opportunity to meet the producers and local specialists
Access to wine estates often closed to the public
Join a community of fellow wine professionals and serious enthusiasts
Frequently Asked Questions
- You’ll learn so much more than you would on your own! Internationally renowned instructors are with you at all times throughout the trip, giving fascinating information, making sure you understand the nuances and subtleties of the region and its wines, and responding to all of your questions.
- You will have amazing tastings and get access to estates you would not be able to visit on your own. We have the highest-level contacts in each region. You’ll get to taste fascinating wines at each estate, and you’ll be welcomed as an honored guest.
- Your instructor has lived or worked in France, Italy, Spain, or other countries we run tours in, for many years. This has allowed them to cultivate extensive experience and contacts within the region. You’ll get expert information about the wine business there, and an insider’s take on local culture.
- You will not have to take chances on hotels or restaurants you don’t know. With more than a decade of experience in these wine regions, we use our first-hand knowledge to choose the best hotels and restaurants.
- Your itinerary makes the most of the limited time you have in the wine region, minimizes driving time, and ensures that you get a thorough overview of the region and its wines.
- You don’t have to worry about getting lost (which is easy to do on the backroads of France or Italy!), or about drinking wine at meals. You can just relax, enjoy and learn.
- You get the camaraderie and pleasure of exploring the wine region with other like-minded people who are as passionate about wine as you are.
- Your instructor and tour manager will translate for the group at all times, so you will have no communication issues, as many winemakers in France, Italy and Spain have limited English.
Preparing for the trip
Please ask the instructor if there is enough time at the end of the visit for you to make your purchase without impeding the progress and timing of the trip. Not all estates sell onsite in Bordeaux, for example, very few of the Classified Growth châteaux sell wine at the château (they sell exclusively through wine merchants). It is rare that estates offer international shipping.
If you would like to purchase wine, we recommend that you ask your government’s customs office for their rules and regulations if you intend to bring wine back into your country, or have wine shipped to you.
You always have the option of bringing wine home with you in your checked luggage. A specialized wine suitcase is perfect for this. Depending on your home country, this amount will vary. You may have to pay some amount of duty on your wine when you go through customs. Therefore, it's best to check with your local authorities for further information.
TRANSPORTATION, FOOD & LODGING
We choose 4-star hotels to ensure a high level of comfort, including en-suite bathrooms, WiFi and air conditioning. It’s very important for the hotels to be well situated in the region, to keep driving time and distance to a minimum. We want to make sure you are as close as possible to the vineyards and other local sites of interest. The hotels we choose also must be large enough to accommodate groups.
We thoroughly check out each hotel before including it in a trip. In wine regions that are large and spread out, you will only change hotels once or twice during a week-long trip (to keep driving times to a minimum each day), and in other regions, there is only one centrally located hotel.
Organizers & Instructors
Our trip instructors are among the most renowned and respected wine professionals in the wine business. They are also professional wine educators who are absolutely passionate about the region and its wines.
You can see a full biography of the instructor for each trip on the corresponding page, so you can know exactly with whom you'll be touring and learning. Most are native English speakers (American or British), and all other instructors speak English fluently. Our instructors have that special combination of high-level wine expertise, personal warmth, friendliness, and excellent leadership skills. They'll accompany you every day, throughout the trip, and will be able to answer all of your questions about the wines of the region you’ll be visiting (and about wine in general).
Booking a trip
Yes, we strongly encourage you to purchase a very comprehensive travel insurance package once you have paid your deposit for a Study Trip. Note that many plans require you to purchase the insurance very soon after your deposit payment (some require it within 14 days).
There are any number of things that can happen that can cause cancellation or interruption of package travel, and travel insurance can help cover the costs you incur as a result. You can find travel insurers easily and there are sites where you can compare policies (for example, Insure My Trip).
Be sure to read policies very carefully before you purchase. Include your airfare, train fare, and any other expenses you will have in addition to the price of the study trip itself. We highly recommend getting a “cancel for any reason” policy, which offers the best coverage. Travel experts say “if you can’t afford travel insurance, you can’t afford to travel,” so don’t skimp on this important coverage!
Have a different question? Feel free to contact us.
See Our Other Destinations
Our industry-recognized educational wine tours offer intensive, professional-level education within wine regions of France, Italy, Spain and beyond. Led by prominent wine professionals and journalists, our itineraries and curricula provide a backstage pass to the most celebrated wine regions.