The Port Wine

ADVENTURE PORTUGAL THE PORT WINE JohnTRAIL Pearson drives the tracks and trails of Portugal’s Douro Valley, following port wine from vineyard to cellar PHOTOS: JÉRÔME ANDRÉ, PAT SUMMERS, LAND ROVER 66 LRO June 2016 June 2016 LRO 67 ADVENTURE PORTUGAL t was a tough life being a crew member of Rover Evoque six-speed manual – both loaned by Climbing a steep track to the St Gabriel chapel, a barco rabelo on the Portuguese Douro Jop, Porto’s Land Rover franchised dealer. we pause to take in the breathtaking scenery. river. These brave men sailed their flat- We take the sinuous N108 road east alongside The Côa river valley snakes away to our left and bottomed boats piled high with barrels the banks of the Douro to the town of Régua. the Douro to the right, with the mountains of of port along the Douro’s hazardous, fast- Here Pat, Mónica and I are catching a train east Spain in the far distance. I’m in the Disco Sport flowing waters – delivering their valuable to Pocinho along a railway line that runs along and José is at the wheel of the Evoque. Both are Icargo to the wine shippers on the Atlantic coast. the edge of the Douro – the line that was built to coping well on the tracks, although it’s fair to say Descending rapids demanded inch-perfect transport the port to Porto. that he is attacking some of the steeper hills with control; a minor error would see the craft capsize We pass through vineyards belonging to gusto in the 2WD vehicle. with the loss of life and cargo. Yet, for over 1000 the major port brands, the grapevines all Eventually, we drop down to the IP2/E802, years, this was the only way to deliver the port. in immaculately coiffured rows, growing heading towards the Museu do Côa, near I’m in the mountains above the Douro on a precariously on steep terraces. Most of the Vila Nova de Foz Côa. Located on a hillside series of ancient tracks during the grape harvest, grapes are hand-picked by hardy workers with overlooking the Côa, this large concrete building following the direction those barco rabelo heavy baskets strapped to their backs; the slopes is devoted to the rich variety of prehistoric rock crews took to Porto. I’ve met up again with too steep for machinery. art that can be found in the area. There are no José Almeida, LRO’s Portugal correspondent, José and Jérôme have taken the vehicles fewer than 84 locations for the art, some of who runs his own adventure tour company, to Pocinho to collect us, from where it’s a which is 30,000 years old. dreamoverland.com. He’s plotted a route that short drive south to our accommodation, the It’s now a UNESCO World Heritage site, but links these tracks, taking in places of interest Casas do Côro, Marialva. These are a group of unbelievably, around 20 years ago, most of related to the industry and the region. attractive red-tiled stone houses in the cobbled it was on the brink of being submerged by a My partner Pat and I fly into Porto airport to street of a medieval village that have been hydroelectric dam project. Fortunately a new meet José, photographer Jérôme André and transformed from ruins into comfortable holiday government in 1995 brought with it some Mónica Nogueira, a guide who’s working for the accommodation by owners Paulo – a former off- commonsense and the dam was cancelled. Porto and Northern Portugal Tourism Board. road champion of Portugal with a Range Rover After a typically substantial Portuguese YOU CAN DO IT TOO It seems appropriate to start this adventure – and Carmen Romão. lunch we set out for a tour of some sites near This would make an ideal 10-day or two-week with a glass of white port and tonic at a bar on Next morning, José takes us out on to a series Penascosa with our guide for the afternoon, adventure, catching a Brittany Ferries ship the banks of the Douro. The skyline across the of tracks high above the river Côa, a tributary of Aldina Regalo. from Portsmouth or Plymouth to Santander or river at Vila Nova de Gaia couldn’t be mistaken the Douro. We pass locals using the traditional Our route takes us through dusty vineyard No wonder so many Bilbao then driving across the top of Spain to for anywhere else in the world: most major almond harvesting method – shaking the tracks and across rolling hillsides, before locals drive Land Rovers the Douro, which takes about six hours. port houses are here, their names on big signs branches with sticks until the nuts fall on to dropping down to ford the surprisingly shallow If you’ve only got a week to spare you could above the red-tiled roofs. Many are familiar, like sheets placed on the ground. Côa to reach the locations. fly into Porto and hire a Discovery from our Cockburn’s, Taylor’s, Dow’s, Croft and Sandeman. Aldina take us to several different sites, which Fording the Côa to man José Almeida. José offers several types have a variety of art featuring horses, oxen, reach the vineyards of tours in Portugal through his website ‘The skyline at goats, antelopes and fish. dreamoverland.com. He does guided trips, Days One and Two Vila Nova de Gaia Then we drive more tracks above the Côa, or you can go it alone and he provides info, Porto to Marialva switching between the Evoque and Discovery routes, schedules, places to stay and eat – couldn’t be Sport. The latter’s automatic transmission helps and he does a fly-drive option with his two Highlight: Prehistoric rock art make it easier to control on some of the tighter Discoverys. Prices vary, depending upon the mistaken for turns through vineyards than the manual adventure and number of participants. Our vehicles for this adventure are a Discovery anywhere else in Evoque. With no low-range, there are times Sport 2.0-litre TD4 with a nine-speed automatic when it’s necessary to slip the Evoque’s clutch to transmission and a two-wheel-drive eD4 Range the world’ bring the speed down low enough to get around tight uphill hairpins, and it’s not something I’m on a series of steep, dusty and quite precarious is Quinta do Vesúvio, once the home and comfortable doing. vineyard slopes towards the Douro. wine-producing premises of one of the most José, a master of surprises, has arranged a The Disco Sport’s sophisticated Hill Descent influential characters in Douro wine history, picnic on the banks of the Côa, courtesy of the Control (HDC) is doing an outstanding job taking Antónia Adelaide Ferreira. Antónia did a lot for Miles Away company. It’s quite magical sitting us down the loose, slippery surfaces. It has the industry during turbulent times in the 19th out here as the sun goes down. excellent steering lock as well, getting around century; she was an innovator, she fought for It’s not a bad drive back to Marialva either. some acute turns in one go in places where fair prices and helped combat the catastrophic I’m in the Sport again and I’m grateful for its my Defender 110 would have to be shunted phylloxera virus that could have ended wine powerful, piercing lights, which really show their backwards and forwards. production completely. quality on both the mountain tracks and the We stop for a break at the picturesque Santa The British-owned Symington company bought tarmac road that follows. Bárbara viewpoint overlooking the Douro. Santa Quinta do Vesúvio in 1989, adding it to its Bárbara is said to protect people from thunder famous Graham’s, Cockburn’s, Dow’s, Warre’s, and lightning, but protecting us from rain Altano and P+S ranges. Day Three doesn’t appear to be under her remit. A heavy The Symington family has been involved in port Marialva to Távora shower soaks the track surface, immediately production since 1882, when Andrew Symington revealing the two-wheel-drive Evoque’s came to Portugal and was employed by Highlight: Quinta do Vesúvio limitations. It has performed admirably well Graham’s. The business is still very much a family in terms of grip so far on the adventure, but it concern, with five Symington family members Next morning we’re out on to more scenic tracks definitely isn’t going up this steep, slippery hill – employed in senior roles. Chief executive Paul near Vila Nova de Foz Côa, driving north through José has to reverse out. Symington owns a Range Rover Hybrid. scenic almond orchards and olive groves. Then After taking an alternative route, we arrive Bernardo Nápoles is the winemaker responsible we cross an area of wild broom and scrub before at a narrow tunnel under a railway – which is for Quinta do Vesúvio, and he drives a Defender turning east through vineyards rich with big, only marginally wider than our vehicles. We 110 Td5 on his estate duties. Bernardo tells us Disco Sport and Evoque – ripe bunches of grapes ready for picking. It’s a emerge into daylight by a classically Portuguese that 30 days of grape harvesting are about to get one will cope slightly better tight squeeze between the rows as we descend building on the banks of the Douro. This under way at the Quinta. 68 LRO June 2016 June 2016 LRO 69 ADVENTURE PORTUGAL mountains. One of the Range Rover Classics with grapes being harvested on terraces that KEY featured in the line-up was José’s 1995 300Tdi.

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