Our goal with this academy is for our guests/visitors to get acquainted with the various types of wine, and explain why this drink is so greatly appreciated around the world. The Library Bar and the Wine Shop are the chosen settings for the wine tastings for their ambience and characters.

WINE EXPERIENCE:

Port Experience
The tutored tasting Port Experience, available daily at the Wine Lodge, offers an introduction to the different types of Port, its history, the years in oak, the importance of temperature, pairing wine with food and the importance of the properly shaped glass.

Gourmet Tasting - Port and Chocolate Gourmet Tasting
The Gourmet Tasting offers an opportunity to try different combinations between recognized up-market, refined products and some of our greatest Ports. Discover the ideal matching for the cask aged Ports (the Tawnies) or the bottle aged ports (the Vintages). Available on request.

Port Wine and Food Tasting
For this tasting we have combined different styles of Port Wine and assorted hors d`oeuvres to show how there are some ideal combinations of Port and food whilst others do not go as well together because of the different flavours.

Wine Courses
Three hour course on viticulture, vinification and tasting technique, accessible to all who are interested in wine, but who have never been to wine tasting classes. The course takes place every Saturday at 10:00 am, or it can be booked for any day of the week with two weeks notice. We have carefully selected different types of wines to illustrate the course (all from the Douro), which include a sparkling wine, two fortified wines, two white and two red wines.

An optional extra for courses is to finish the session with lunch, at which the matching of wine and food will be discussed, and different associations tried out, followed by a visit to a "Quinta", or wine estate. Certificates can be awarded in the end. Special purchasing prices available in the Hotel`s "Wine Shop".