CR Adventures 050623: Pinhão - La Quinta de La Rosa y Douro River Cruise y Pinhao Station

This journey of discovery starts from Quinta de La Rosa Where we spent two wonderful nights and some exquisite meals in the restaurant.
For many years the grapes of this estate were sold to great houses of Port wine, like Croft and Sandeman. But that changed when, in 1988, Quinta de la Rosa started selling Ports with its own label. You could say that this was the turning year for this wine house.
Sophia and her father Tim – grand daughter and son of Claire – rolled up their sleeves determined to change the direction of their wines and, in the 90’s, also started to produce table wines, being one of the first producers in Douro to do so.

Today, Quinta de La Rosa produces mostly table wines, never forgetting Port wines, which are, at the end of the day, the essence of the Douro.
Their wines are exported a little bit to the whole world, receiving well deserved awards in the most prestigious competitions worldwide.
But I knew almost nothing of this story, until this year I went up to the Douro to finally know the Quinta.
Right in the center of Pinhão – the train coming from Porto stops just a few minutes walking from the estate – and with the river just there, Quinta de La Rosa and its vineyards can be considered very privileged ones!

From the Quinta de La Rosa we take a 20 min scenic walk down to Pinhao to board the traditional boat to cruise up the Douro river on our 2 hour round trip admiring the beautiful scenery along the way.

On our return we have lunch at the Writers Restaurant a 5min stroll from the boat where we enjoyed a lovely meal on the terrace overlooking the Douro river.

From there we Visited the famous Pinhao railway station.

Pinhão Railway Station is the most beautiful station in the Douro. Built during the 19th century it is known for its tiles depicting the production of Port wine, from the grape harvest, the treading of the grapes to the transport of the wine in rabelo boats down the river to the cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia.

The train arrived in Pinhão in 1880 which contributed to the rapid expansion of what used to be a small village.

In 1937 the station received the tile panels that make it famous. They were designed by J. Oliveira, an artist who has also decorated other Portuguese stations, and were built in the Aleluia factory in Aveiro. There are 24 panels covering almost all the walls of the main building.

Observing the panels is like reading a story, told by the images that represent the stages of wine production. It is also a journey into the past where various aspects of the Douro Valley that have already disappeared can be observed.

This is a must-see for anyone visiting the Douro Wine Region.

We then make our way back to the Quinta de La Rosa for an evening of culinary delights and a lovely glass of vintage port.

Thoroughly recommend that you give this a go.