Social Program

We are organising a tour starting at 2:30 pm from hotel Régua Douro that will end with the banquet.

First, the buses will take us upstream, along the left bank of Douro river, past the small Bagauste dam to our first destination, Quinta do Seixo. The dam, also called Régua dam, was built in 1965-1973. It has a lock, to allow navigation, and a hydroelectric power station of 180 MW. As this is the season of cherries, you will find locals selling their products along the road and in particular at dam site.

Quinta do Seixo is a vineyards estate owned by Sandeman and we will experience a guided visit to some of its facilities in addition to wine tasting. The views from Quinta do Seixo are quite spectacular.

Subsequently, we will continue our upstream journey by bus to the small town of Pinhão, on the right bank of the river. At Pinhão we will board a typical boat (barco rabelo) for a 2 hour tour into the rivers Douro and especially upstream the Tua river for a closer look at the heart of the wine producing vineyards. This part of the valley cannot be seen from any existing road, but if you get tired of the view I am sure you will still be able to indulge into more port wine tasting.

At the end of the boat trip you will be able to briefly wander for 20 minutes at Pinhão, perhaps visiting the nice train station or getting information on the well known Vintage House Hotel (you may wish to stay here in the future). Incidentally, our banquet will be prepared at the Vintage House Hotel, but served elsewhere, at Quinta da Roêda.

We will then move to Croft’s flagship vineyard estate, Quinta da Roêda, where we will have our banquet. Depending on weather conditions, the banquet may be outside, next to the vineyards, or inside.

Croft was founded in York in 1588, but at that time their business was a different one. At those times the British were hooked to the french wine, and had interests in the Bordeaux region. 1588 is also the year Phillip II of Spain tried to invade Britain and where the Portuguese navy also lost many ships. In those days the Portuguese crown belonged also to Phillip II, but that’s another story.

For a bit of the 430 years history of Croft, watch this video.

Croft is part of the Fladgate Partnership, which also owns Taylor’s (famous for it its Taylor’s Chip Dry white port wine), Fonseca (an expert company on vintage port wine) and Krohn brands. In Porto, Taylor’s owns a restaurant next to its cellars and a hotel (the Yeatman). Information on the Fladgate Partnership can be found here.

Late in the evening, the buses will return us to the hotels.