In the glass · WINE CELLAR VISITS
Underground is where the money and the patience live. The 10 below go into barrel halls, chalk galleries and port lodges, each priced and clear about how cold it gets and how long you are down there.
Take a 50-minute Douro cruise past Porto’s Ribeira, six bridges, and Vila Nova de Gaia. Choose a sunset departure, then add a separate guided Burmester cellar visit with Port tasting. Bring a jacket and headphones for the optional multilingual audio guide.
“It was fantastic, I thought it was a great price for the activity included.”
Spend one hour at Cálem Cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia, beginning with a 15-minute interactive museum visit, followed by a 30-minute guided cellar tour in English, Spanish, French, or Portuguese. Finish with Cálem Fine White and Special Reserve Tawny Port.
“Super interesting. The guide was fantastic and very helpful. The port wine was delicious.”
Visit Cálem’s cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia for a 30-minute English tour, then taste white port and special reserve tawny during a 45-minute Fado performance. Guides such as Nikita and Felipe keep the tour lively, though large groups can make explanations harder to hear.
“Our tour guide was so informative and explained everything so well. The Fado show was also incredible.”
Start beside Porto Cathedral, exchange your voucher, and ride the Magic Train through the old center to Real Companhia Velha. Tour the cellar, taste two ports, then take a one-hour Douro cruise. You can split the train and boat across two days.
“All the trip was super nice! The train took us to the cellar (where the guide was super friendly and explaining us in detail everything we wanted to know. The tour was super interesting and at the end we tried for free 2 of the wines. They were delicious( at the end you have the opportunity to also buy the wine which is actually sold for a good price). After this, we went on a tour with the train (which is a little uncomfortable but is was fun) and an audio guide explaining you what are you passing near to. After this we took a trip with the bout which…”
Use a 24 or 48-hour Gray Line Portugal ticket to tour Porto, Vila Nova de Gaia, and Matosinhos by open-top bus. Add a Douro cruise and port cellar tasting, then use the 48-hour pass for the evening panoramic tour through illuminated Porto.
“We had the 48hr bus ticket, boat cruise and wine tasting. We did all routes and the night tour aswell as the cruise and wine tasting at Calum’s. We like the green route best which was an extension to the blue. The ticket was great value. Our only criticism was that the audio was out of sync and there wasn’t one on the boat which would have been nice. We would thoroughly recommend it though.”
Begin at Porto Cathedral, ride the Magic Train past major city sights, and stop at Real Companhia Velha, founded in 1756. A cellar guide and short film explain Port production before you tour the oldest section and taste two Ports. Allow two hours, plus extra time for lunch if selected.
“Excellent I can highly recommend, will be doing it again certainly”
Tour a historic cellar in central Montepulciano with an English or Italian guide, then taste five DOC and DOCG wines with pecorino, bruschetta, olive oil, and crostini. Guides such as Emilio, Debbie, Mirko, and Ron are known for lively stories about the cellar, its families, and Tuscan winemaking.
“Our guide was very informative! Best tour in Montepulciano. We sampled 6 wines, which were accompanied by bread, meat and cheese.”
At family-run Vollereaux Champagne in the Marne Valley, you’ll tour the production areas and cellar with an English or French-speaking guide, learn how Champagne is made, and finish with three tastings. The one-hour visit is intimate, practical, and wheelchair accessible.
“Perfect, nice for a tour arount the production areas as well as the storage in the wine cellar. the tasteing was great, and the wine very nice. the guided tour was informative and intresting, great guide.”
In Gertwiller, a live guide in English or French leads you through Vins Zeyssolff’s renovated family winery, five organic Alsace wines, and barrels dating to 1850. You’ll see a Universal Exhibition barrel from 1900 and watch a 180-degree film projected onto the oak. Dorian has led warmly praised visits.
“Beste wijntour die we gedaan hebben! Enthousiaste gids, deed de rondleiding met veel passie. De prjectie op de wijnvaten was onverwacht mooi en uniek! Aanrader!”
At Cantina Mazzarosa Devincenzi, guide Sofia leads you through vineyards, olive groves, the cellar, and Europe’s largest barrel. You’ll taste five Abruzzo wines, olive oil, bruschetta, cold cuts, cheeses, and Cantuccini with Vino Cotto in a small group of up to 10.
“O local é bem interessante e a guia Sofia foi espetacular! Tornou a visita muito mais proveitosa com seu conhecimento dos vinhos e sua forma agradável de conduzir a visitação. Os vinhos são muito bons e o azeite sensacional!”
Cellar doors, tasting rooms and the long lunches in between.
