Most people don’t realise how much there is to know about wine tasting in Porto. Besides the famous Port wine cellars, there are some amazing wine bars in the city where you can taste wines from all around the country. There is also a fantastic wine museum that, although not dedicated specifically to Portuguese wines, is a wealth of knowledge about wine making. There’s lots of wine tasting opportunities in Porto, so keep reading to find out about the best ones!
No time to read a long article? Here’s a summary:
- The most UNIQUE wine tasting in Porto takes place at the Port wine lodges. My favourite ones are:
Graham’s (especially their premium tasting at the Vintage Room)
Cockburn’s (it’s the most beautiful lodge)
Poças (a small scale producer)
- Most FUN wine experience: to have a glass of Port wine while enjoying a Fado show at Calém Port wine lodge 🙂
Another fun option is to join a Group wine tasting tour in Porto. It’s a great way to meet like minded travellers but, given the price and how many wines you’ll be tasting, I can tell you right away that the wines you’ll be tasting are not fantastic.
- Most EDUCATIONAL wine experience: the audio guided visit of Taylor’s wine lodge and at WOW – a fantastic wine museum in Porto, where you can learn all about wine making. I love LOVE this museum, but I am a wine nerd :’)
- Wine pairing with Portuguese food: take the Quevedo’s Port wine tasting with Portuguese cheeses or the Vallado’s wine tasting with Portuguese tapas (it takes place at a reaaally romantic hotel!).
- You can also join a group tour in the Douro valley (~100€ / pax) or, if you’re serious about wine tasting, you should consider booking our premium & private tour in the Douro valley, where we’ll take you to two fantastic family-owned small scale producers. Yes, they are expensive and yes, they are very, very good.
- Our private full day tour in Porto is also a good option, particularly for those that want to explore Portuguese wines without leaving the city, as we will take you to the most exclusive wine lodge in the city.
- If you just want to enjoy a glass of wine at a wine bar, head to the Wine Quay, Prova and Mind The Glass.
Let’s take a closer look at wine tasting in Porto! 🙂
Go for a wine tasting at the Port lodges
If you are in the city for a couple of days you shouldn’t miss the opportunity to do a wine tasting in Porto at one of our famous Port wine lodges.
There, you will be able to not only to learn about the production process of Port wine, but also to taste different Ports.
The wines are produced in the Douro valley, but the big brands still age its Ports at the Port wine lodges in Gaia, and there you’ll be able to see the large vats and the smaller wine barrels… it is magic! 🙂
What are the best Port wine lodges?
I’ve already written about the best Port lodges in Porto. Nonetheless, let me give you some advice on how to pick the best Port wine lodge for you:
- If you want to have the most informative tour, with a detailed explanation of the Port wine production process, then I highly recommend you to take a guided tour and wine tasting at Graham’s. Moreover, Graham’s has an incredible terrace overlooking the Douro river. It is stunning and a great place to have a glass of Port with some tapas!
If Graham’s is already sold out, the audio guided visit to Taylor’s wine lodge is super interesting for wine nerds like me 🙂 But keep in mind that it is an audio guided experience, so no guides touring you around.
- If you want a good value for the money I recommend you to combine a Port wine tasting at Calém with a live Fado show. It’s a great way to experience Port wine and enjoy some traditional Portuguese music. You can get your online ticket for a Fado Show at Calém’s Port wine lodge. The only bad thing about Calém is that, as it is by the riverside, it is usually full of people.
- If you want to visit a really unique Port wine lodge, then I recommend you to book a guided tour and wine tasting at Cockburn’s because you will have the rare opportunity to see their coopers repairing the wine barrels. It is also the largest (and most impressive) working cellar in the city.
- If you prefer to visit a small scale producer, I recommend you to try the wine tasting at Poças, which is one of being one of the very few Port wine lodges in the hands of a Portuguese family (unfortunately, most brands belongs to English companies). So, if you are looking for a traditional, family owned Port wine lodge, look no further!
More useful information about the Port wine lodges
- Where to go: Usually, the Port wine lodges by the riverside are PACKED. The groups can take up to 30 people, which, in my opinion, decreases the overall quality of the experience. You won’t be able to ask a lot of questions or pause to take pictures. Therefore, I always prefer to go to the furthest Port houses (Graham’s, Cockburn’s and especially Poças), as the tours are more intimate and personal.
- What to taste: In most lodges, the standard tasting is quite poor, consisting of entry level wines. It is really worth it to pay a little extra to taste better Port wines, specially because the differences between Rubys and Tawnies are easier to spot in older wines. Better wine tastings allow you to get a proper introduction to Port wines and to better understand your own preferences, so go for it! 🙂
- How many Port houses: you should focus on quality rather than quantity. It is better to visit two Port wine lodges with informative and well structured tours, rather than visit five with awful wines and scripted tours. In that regard, I find Graham’s Port lodge particularly good.
- Audio guided visits: If you already know a little bit about Port wines, then you might find the visit to Taylor’s wine lodge or WOW, the wine museum in Porto rather interesting. Both experiences are completely automated (no guides, only audio guides), which is great for people like me, who prefer detailed information.
- Be careful with free wine tastings in Porto! This might seem a stupid advice, but it certainly isn’t. If you buy a cable car ticket, go for a hop on hop off tour or have the 6 bridges cruise you’ll get a free Port wine tasting at one of the Port houses. Don’t expect good quality wines though!
Port wine paired with Portuguese cheeses at a wine tasting room
I recently took the Port wine tasting with cheese pairing at Quevedo‘s and I LOVED it – it was so much better than I anticipated!
I have been friends with Quevedo’s (a small Portuguese boutique winery in the Douro valley) owners for a long time, and they invited me to taste their new Port wine tasting with cheese pairing. It’s really good because you’ll be tasting GOOD Ports (for instance, one of the wines I tasted was a 2009 White Port Colheita), paired with 3 Portuguese cheeses from small scale producers.
Moreover, the staff at Quevedo is not just friendly but also very knowledgeable, as I had a 1h Port wine nerd conversation with them. It was so much fun 🙂
I sincerely recommend the Port wine tasting with cheese pairing at Quevedo as you won’t find a similar experience in Porto at this price point.
WoW: an incredible wine museum
There is a new fantastic wine museum in town called WoW – Wine Museum. I was a little bit sceptic at first – I mean, there are already so many Port wine lodges in town, so what could possibly a new wine museum add up? But the truth is that WoW – Wine Museum is a fantastic place for those of you that really want to learn not only about general wine production processes but also the different Portuguese wine regions.
Moreover, WoW – Wine Museum is a very interactive museum, where you’ll be able to take a few tests to discover what is your style of wine, what is the grape variety that best suits you, etc. It’s SO COOL.
At the end, a wine tasting that includes a red, a white and an LBV Port wine. Are the wines served fantastic? No. I am not sugar coat this for you. But the amount of KNOWLEDGE you gain in the museum itself is second to none.
The online ticket to WoW – Wine Museum costs 20€.
More wine tasting in Porto: the best wine bars
For those of you who are not so found of Port wine (maybe you just haven’t found the right one… ;), there are other options. Slowly but steadily wine is becoming increasingly respected in the country, with proper wine bars where you can make a wine tasting in Porto.
These are perfect places to have a glass of wine to go along with some petiscos, such as creamy sheep cheese, Portuguese prosciutto or the traditional canned sardines.
And the best wine bars in Porto are…
Wine Quay Bar
The Wine Quay Bar is definitely one of my favourite spots at the moment, as it is one of the few places for a proper wine tasting in Porto. It is a cozy wine bar, very close to Luiz I iron bridge, and facing the Port wine cellars on the other side of the Douro river.
There you can find a short yet careful selection of wines from several wine regions, like the Douro valley, Alentejo and more.
At the Wine Quay bar you have many tapas to go along with your wine, such as a great selection of Portuguese cheeses and Portuguese canned fish (sardines, mackerel, codfish) and, naturally, our amazing smoked meats.
Capela Incomum – Wine Bar
Capela Incomum is a cosy wine bar in Porto, and it has a rather unusual location: after all, it is built inside an old chapel that hasn’t been used for the past 50 years.
Given it’s intimate atmosphere, with candle lights and blues’ music, Capela Incomum is the perfect spot for a romantic date, and for those looking for a first wine tasting in Porto.
This wine bar has a short – and a bit predictable – wine list, mostly focused on wines from the Douro valley. Here you can also find a few sparkling wines, green wines and also Port wine (even though from a single main stream brand – what a pity). To go along, you can pick some home made bruschettas, cheeses and sausages.
Capela Incomum may not be the best spot for wine connaisseurs, but it’s still a great choice for a wonderful night in Porto.
Prova – Porto Wine Bar
Prova is yet another perfect wine bar for an intimate date in Porto.
Located at the iconic Ribeira neighborhood, this beautiful and discrete wine bar offers a small yet careful selection of wines, as well as a superb cheese board and a famous (yet not very good :P) chocolate cake.
At this place you can really ask the waiter for an advice on what wine to drink according to your palate, something that unfortunately is not that common in the city. For this particular reason, Prova is one of the best spots to make an introductory wine tasting in Porto.
Mind The Glass
One of my favourite wine bars in Porto is Mind The Glass (the name is brilliant, don’t you think?!). Located right in the centre of Porto, it has a corporate yet intimate vibe, with 60 seats spread across the indoor dining room and the heated terrace.
On the menu, you’ll find hundreds of suggestions for wines by the glass, which can accompany one of their many (and delicious) dishes, which go far beyond the traditional cheese and sausage platters.
So, take my suggestion: watch the multimedia show at the Clérigos Church, which is right next door, and then go enjoy a good wine at Mind The Glass.
What about natural wines bars in Porto?
We (the Portuguese) don’t really care about natural wines; it’s more a Northern European thing.
This being said, more and more wine producers in Portugal are producing wines with little intervention (particularly in the vineyards), and that translates into new natural wines’ bars opening up in our city. Here’s a list of my favourite natural wines bars in Porto.
Genuíno
If you dig more the natural wines, then Genuíno is the best wine bar in Porto for you!
It is a cute little wine bar that serves natural wines (a couple of them by the glass), and great tapas to share. The food menu changes every week and it always includes a soup, some delicious tapas, a couple of main dishes and desserts. All the wines are natural, and surprisingly good (yes, I am quite suspicious of natural wines in general :P).
Genuíno is very popular among locals and it has some strange opening hours, so I recommend you to book a table before heading there.
A Cave Do Bon Vivant
One of the most popular natural wine bars in Porto is A Cave Do Bon Vivant, which belongs to a French couple who decided to emigrate from Paris to Porto, and already have a lot of experience in the wine industry.
All the available references are on display, and the price is indicated on all the bottles. There are many options, including whites, reds, oranges, rosés and sparkling wines. The majority of the producers are Portuguese, but there are wines from Italy, Spain, France, Georgia and Australia, among other countries. Therefore, the best thing to do is ask for help from the staff, who are not only very knowledgeable but also very friendly.
At Cave do Bon Vivant you can taste their wines accompanied by delicious snacks. In addition, there are Legos and coloured pencils, making this a very child-friendly bar.
Cave Bombarda – Natural Wine Shop
There is a cute little natural whine shop in Cedofeita neighborhood, called Cave Bombarda, that I particularly like because the owner, Jorge, is a super friendly person. He will teach you all about the natural wines that you can not only buy at his shop, but also drink by the glass.
Moreover, Cave Bombarda is located inside CCB, which is a cute shopping mall filled with unique concept stores and some restaurants. So take my advice, have lunch at CCB and then head to Cave Bombarda to meet Jorge and his unique natural wines in Porto.
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