Croft Port, one of the oldest names in Port, has opened the doors of its Douro Valley vineyard, Quinta da Roeda, to tourists.
Croft Port’s new visitor centre offers tourists an insight into a working vineyard, with tastings of a range of Croft Ports, tours of the vineyards and wineries and a chance to experience the foot-treading of the grapes.
Quinta da Roeda, near the village of Pinhao in Portugal, has terraced vineyards overlooking the River Duoro.
The vineyards and cellars were extensively renovated when Croft returned to family ownership in 2001, including reintroducing traditional granite lagares – the large tanks used for food-treading grapes.
Tourists will have the opportunity to participate in traditional foot-treading at the visitor centre during harvest time.
Croft Port was founded in 1588 and bought the Quinta da Roeda estate in 1889. The estate has been the main source of wine for the firm’s Vintage Ports ever since. Croft Port is also known for making the first ever rosé Port, Croft Pink.
The Alto Douro wine region, where Quinta da Roeda is located, is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The area has been producing wine for around 2,000 years and the landscape is inherently representative of the full range of historic and modern activities associated with wine making.
