Our luck with the weather finally changed. A storm hit Regua overnight and it was very noisy in our Air B & B. We awoke to strong wind and lots of rain and took our time before leaving for coffee. After coffee we headed to a winery called Quinta Da Pacheca at which Laura and Jesse had booked a winery tour and tasting.
I do not drink a lot of wine and have not had a lot of interest in how it is produced or marketed. So. I did not know what to expect. After a short drive across the river, we easily found the winery. Judging by the size of the parking lot, these tours/tastings are a significant part of the winery’s revenue. The setting (among the grapes and looking back across the river) was very pretty. The building in which we joined our tour was very nicely finished with a wine shop and separate tasting room.
Our tour had about 11 people including us and was for English speaking visitors. Just ahead of us a separate tour was being conducted for Portuguese guests. Our tour guide, Pedro, was very personable and took us through the winery. He gave us some history of the winery and an overview of the traditional method of making wine and port which they employ. The tour finished with a nice tasting of two wines and two ports. I enjoyed what we tasted but realize that I don’t have the developed palate to appreciate them as Jesse and Laura did.
The weather kept teasing us as it alternated from sunshine and light showers to heavy wind and rain. We did get some walking in but much less than most previous days. Some tapas enjoyed at a leisurely pace took up the late part of the afternoon and we prepared a nice salad for our dinner. The balance of the evening was spent getting the kids ready for bed and preparing for our trip to Porto tomorrow.