DAY TWO – On to Porto – for port, of course! As I head up the Atlantic, my next destination is Porto, home of Portugal’s famous port wine, registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Porto is built into the granite cliffs at the mouth of the Rio Douro where it is home to prominent wine merchants such as Taylor’s, Ferreira and Graham’s. Taylor’s is one of the oldest of the founding port houses, established over three centuries ago in 1692. Ferreira was founded in 1751, five years earlier than the demarcation of the Douro wine region. Graham’s was one of the first port companies to invest in its own vineyards in 1890. Port wine is made by interrupting the fermentation of grape must (freshly pressed juice) by adding aguardente, a clear grape spirit, to preserve the grapes’ natural sugars and give port is characteristic sweetness and richness. Distinctive ports were paired with Portuguese cheese (often goat or sheep, such as Queijo Serra da Estrela), Portuguese bread (such as Broa de Milho made from corn and buckwheat) and crisp baguette slices with chocolate-hazelnut spread. Later in the day I was treated to a repast of pastéis de nata, Portuguese egg tart pastries, strong dark coffee with rich local milk and, of course, more wine! The egg tarts date back to the 18th century when Portuguese Catholic monks used leftover egg yolks to make cakes and pastries (the egg whites were used for starching clothes, such as nuns’ habits). As I scooped up the last morsels I eyed the Atlantic and looked north where my next stop, Vigo, Spain awaited. Come aboard!
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