The Fladgate Partnership
Experiences
The World of Wine (WOW) launched in July 2020 and is a collection of cultural, culinary, and retail concepts spread over more than 35,000m2 in the city’s historic wine cellar district. WOW provides visitors with six immersive museum experiences, nine restaurants, bars, and cafes, event spaces, temporary exhibition space, retail outlets, and a wine school.
The six experiences at WOW are:
The Wine Experience
Porto Region Across the Ages
Planet Cork
The Bridge Collection – 9,000 years of drinking
The Chocolate Story
Porto Fashion & Fabric
Each of the six two-hour experiences engage and amaze with impressive visual and interactive presentations, historical artifacts all curated by experts in the fields of wine, history and culture. The opening this summer will also see the launch of the WOW Wine School, offering light introduction or more technical immersion courses for wine lovers, connoisseurs, professionals or those looking for experiential travel.
With Porto’s colorful cityscape, the Douro River and the iconic Dom Luís I Bridge as a backdrop, the central square is home to a variety of wining and dining options. ‘Angel’s Share’ wine bar, ‘1828’ fine dining restaurant, ‘Root & Vine’ vegetarian fare and ‘Golden Catch’ fish restaurants all feature views of the city. In addition, at launch WOW will also open ‘Suspiro’ dessert café, Lemon Plaza for grab & go options and a bistrot offering traditional Portuguese cuisine.
Taylor's Port Cellars & Visitors' Centre
Taylor’s invites you to an exciting and informative tour of its famous cellars at Vila Nova de Gaia. Learn about the history of Port wine and its production today, the Douro Valley and the house of Taylor’s.
Taylor’s, now in its fourth century, recently renovated its 300 year old Cellars to incorporate a modern and innovative museum circuit. The story of Port wine and Taylor’s is now told through an extensive audio-guided visit, available in twelve languages which will take you on a vivid tour of the Lodge that includes an array of films, images, exhibits, photographs and paintings.
In addition to the two wines included on the tour, there is a range of Port tastings for our visitors to enjoy including a choice of many different aged Tawny Ports, or one of Taylor’s classic Vintage Ports.
Taylor's Lisbon Shop & Tasting Room
Located in a prestigious area within the historic district of Alfama, next to Chafariz del Rei, the first ever public fountain in Lisbon dating back to 1487, Taylor’s Port wine shop and tasting room showcases a wide range of our Ports and is the first of its kind in Lisbon.
This recently opened space includes a shop on the ground floor and three tasting rooms on the first floor. There are 15 wines available to try in the tasting room
Besides Port, you can also try our award winning olive oil, produced at our flagship property, Quinta de Vargellas, served with bread. Appetisers include a selection of Portuguese cheeses, Portuguese cured hams and traditional grilled almonds. Among the sweet pairings, one can try dark chocolate truffles or the famous Portuguese custard pastry, and during the Summer months why not try a signature Port cocktail, Taylor’s Chip Dry and Tonic.
Quinta do Panascal - Fonseca
Quinta do Panascal has been open to the public since 1992, one of the first to be so in the Douro valley region.
Panascal’s educational audio-tour allows guests to wander independently through vineyards dramatically situated atop rolling hills overlooking Távora River and the “lagares” (traditional granite tanks).
This self-guided audio-tour allows visitors in their own time to visit the vineyards and is available in 9 languages – Portuguese, English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Dutch, Danish and Japanese.
Our visitors’ centre also offers a variety of Ports by the glass including old Tawnies and the first fully certified organic Port so you can discover the diversity of Port Wine.
Quinta da Roêda - Croft
For an authentic vineyard experience, visit Croft’s flagship vineyard estate, Quinta da Roêda, at Pinhão in the heart of the Douro Valley.
The visitors’ centre provides a spacious environment in which to taste Croft’s renowned port wines and browse the shop for unique local products, such as the estate’s own extra virgin olive oil.
Discover the secrets of the vineyards as you take a guided walking tour through the property, stopping at points of interest along the way and taking in the magnificent landscape and the stunning views across the Douro River.
Quinta da Roêda is a short distance from the centre of the town of Pinhão and is accessible for tour buses as well as private cars.
Fonseca Port Cellars & Visitors' Centre
The Fonseca Experience, tasting room, and shop is located in the heart of the historic Vila Nova de Gaia, across the Douro river from the city of Porto.
Located in cellars with hundreds of years of history, the Fonseca experience allows guests to learn about the uniqueness of the Douro valley, the significant role Fonseca has played in sustainable viticulture, and how Port wine is made.
With spectacular views of the city of Porto and the famous Dom Luis I bridge, guests will further learn about Fonseca´s role in producing some of the world´s finest wines, Fonseca Vintage Ports.
The Fonseca Experience includes a complimentary guided tasting of Fonseca´s famous Bin no. 27 is our historic tasting room. If you wish to explore the versality of Fonseca Port, you can complete your Fonseca Experience with a complementary Fonseca Port based cocktail.
For those wishing to sample Fonseca´s exceptional Port wines, guests can also visit the tasting room where a wide range of Ports are on offer by the glass. Fonseca´s reputation is built upon its fine vintage Ports and, exceptionally, over 10 Fonseca Vintage Ports are available by the glass in the tasting room.
The Museu do Vitral concentrates a magnificent collection of colour and light, in a requalified building right next to the Sé do Porto.
On display are the works of João Aquino Antunes, the last Portuguese painter who dedicated his life to stained glass windows. The visitor will have the opportunity to appreciate from traditional stained-glass windows to decorative panels and also abstract art installations.
The Museum also includes the recreation of part of the artist’s studio, with sketches and models. At the end of the experience, visitors will be entitled to a glass of Taylor’s Port wine
Opening soon.
Our boats are called Rabelas. Inspired by the design of the traditional Rabelos that in days gone by transported Port wine from the heart of the Douro Valley to the cellars of Porto, our two boats, ‘Serra do Pilar’ and ‘Casa do Infante’, are 20 metres long and can transport 28 people across the river in comfort and safety.
– Inspired by the Rabelo boats
– Capacity of 28 passengers
– The boat masters’ uniform is inspiredby the crews of the old Rabelo boats
– The two Rabelas are adapted to receive passengers with reduced mobility
– “Serra do Pilar” and “Casa do Infante” are the names of the boats, in honour of the two cities, Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia
– Each boat makes its journey every 15 minutes from 10am to sunset, every day of the week
– The crossing between the river banks takes about 5 minutes, so enjoy the wonderful scenery!