Putting the Port in Portugal
Get daily updates directly to your inbox SubscribeSee our privacy noticeThank you for subscribing!The English spotted the appeal of Porto early on. More than 300 years ago, to be exact, when our more adventurous wine merchants decamped to Portugal’s second city, fortified the insipid local red and exported it back to Blighty as port in place of the claret that was drying up due to our fisticuffs with the French.Three centuries on and there is another wave of travellers discovering the delights of Porto via appealingly cheap discount airlines on city breaks, where character and cuisine mark this out as a very fine weekend destination.In Manchester, we all know about second city status. And, like Manchester, Porto has an inner confidence in getting on with things its way, in spite of being overshadowed by the capital. The battle against Portugal’s much reported austerity seemed, on my visit, to be largely won, with redevelopment under way and full restaurants and bars, despite it being the middle of February.And the appeal of Lisbon for a Friday to Monday getaway is clear. Less than three hours canada goose outlet toronto factory away by plane, same time difference, at least 5C warmer (a good 10C when I was there), cheaper to drink and eat out in than Manchester’s now pricey venues, art, canada goose outlet nyc culture and atmosphere aplenty, a walkable centre and a lovely, lazy river cutting through it.You can goose outlet canada also get seriously up canada goose outlet uk to speed on everything to do with port if you still only drag it from the cabinet on December 25, you can become the expert in your circle of friends during a brief stay.And we canada goose outlet uk sale stayed in the epicentre for all things port, the opposite bank of the Douro River in Vila Nova de Gaia, where all the famous port houses, with their terracotta tiled wine cellars and offices, tumble down to the water. It is linked to Porto’s buzzy, medieval Ribeira district by the seriously impressive ironwork of the Dom Luis I bridge, designed by Gustave Eiffel and looking like a beautifully reworked Meccano set of his Tower.A less frenetic Ribeira atmosphere has seeped over to the riverside of Gaia, with restaurants and bars sprucing up once dilapidated buildings along the Avendia Diogo Leite and art installations, historic rabelo boats and crafty stalls adding to the appeal.The indoor pool at The YeatmanThis is also where you get the best view of Porto, of its sweet shop coloured buildings rising higgledy piggledy up steep streets wrapped around a gentle curve in the Douro before its waters spill into the Atlantic at Foz, just three miles downstream.And that world class canada goose outlet new york city view inspired the elegant hotel where we stayed. The Yeatman is operated by canada goose outlet jackets one of the oldest English port companies, and that tremendous cityscape is shared by all the bedrooms, its postcard pretty infinity canada goose outlet store uk pools and two starred Michelin restaurant.The Fladgate Partnership, which controls four leading Port brands Taylor’s, Fonseca, Croft and Krohn opened The Yeatman in 2010 with 82 rooms and suites.A Superior Room at The YeatmanThe five star hotel is a blend of British and Portuguese influences, with a white washed almost colonial elegance and built on a number of levels, descending the hill from the sumptuous reception to the decanter shaped swimming pool a few storeys below.The hotel, part of the upmarket Relais Chateaux group, has employed talented Ricardo Costa as head chef canada goose outlet since day one and he has crafted the best restaurant in the city by celebrating the produce and recipes of Portugal but also by employing a playful twist delighting the locals as well as Michelin judges, who pinned a second star on him last year.We tried his ‘Gastronomic Experience’ (I stopped counting after 10 courses) which combined cooking and art to conjure dishes such as black port cheeks, razor shell and coriander; tropical cardinal prawn, papaya, mango and galangal; mini squid, whey, fried yeast and smoked eel. Each course was an adventure and all were combined with wines and finally port from The Yeatman’s unrivalled cellar.Breakfast is almost as impressive bucks fizz and caviar anyone? eaten in the light, bright orangerie, its long windows allowing that swooning view to flood your senses.Good places to eat other than The Yeatman include Bacalhoeiro a shrine to cod or sit down to a superb, set price authentic lunch at Galeria Do Largo. We just missed Bolaho market, where farmers hawk their produce and you eat sardines on rickety trestle tables, as it shuts at 1pm on Saturday and is closed on Sunday one canada goose outlet sale for the return visit.In between the food and drink, take time to visit Porto’s sights including the golden glory of the Sao Francisco Church; the city’s fortress like cathedral and cool cloisters; the beautiful but busy Lello bookshop that is said to have inspired J K Rowling’s gothic designs in canada goose outlet shop Harry Potter; the stunning murals in the Sao Bento railway station and the touristy but impressive Majestic art nouveau cafA Porto card, the official city pass, offers discounts to many of the must sees as well as free city travel, and you can buy cards lasting from one to four days.On our visit, were lucky enough to canada goose outlet parka catch one of the Portugal’s biggest annual wine fairs, Essencia Do Vinho https://www.canadagoosejacketsoutsale.com , held in the awesome 19th century mansion, Palacio Da Bolsa another of those bucket list sights in itself. The gilded palace housed an amazing array of producers wine as well as canada goose black friday sale port from across the country, tucked into every neoclassical nook and cranny.But for a less frenzied education in the country’s wine, all you need to do is wander the refined corridors of The Yeatman, a hotel inspired by it. There on the walls are maps, history, information about cork, even a comprehensive display of drinking vessels throughout the ages, assiduously collected by Fladgate’s CEO Adrian Bridge.Each of the hotel’s bedrooms is subtly decorated around wine by individual Portuguese producers, with master suites taking it further to include a barrel bed or copper Jacuzzi, and the hotel’s Vinotherapie Spa by Caudalie is wine themed, too, with treatments that include a ‘crushed cabernet scrub’.The hotel has the best wine cellar in the country and the largest collection of Portuguese wine in the world with 1,300 official canada goose outlet different labels and 30,000 bottles. This canada goose factory outlet will be taken to a new level over the coming years as just below The Yeatman the company is building The World Of Wine canada goose outlet , a complex of museums, restaurants, event spaces and a wine school all due in 2020.But, for now, don’t miss the Taylor’s port cellar tour, entered just outside The Yeatman, where you can see the port making process and its history housed in the long, cool, granite walled warehouses where some of the best vintages in the world are housed.And, obviously, don’t leave before sampling some of the produce itself by raising a thankful toast to those intrepid 17th century wine merchants who invented it.
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