Wine Tasting

The Douro reveals itself slowly as an experience. Its wines are best understood not in a city tasting room but on the land that produced them - the vineyard, the schist soils and the terraces cut into impossible slopes by hand, generation after generation; everything that makes up the terroir. A tasting at Quinta do Fôjo is an unhurried introduction to the region through the wines and the working life of one family estate.

Each visit is hosted personally by Elisabete Saraiva and begins with a welcome and an introduction to the family's story and the Douro itself. From there, guests are taken into the estate's historic cellars and lagares - the stone treading tanks in which Douro wines were traditionally made - for an explanation of the vinification methods that shaped the region's winemaking for centuries. With the modernisation of winemaking, the lagares are no longer in active use; the family's wines are now vinified in collaboration with selected Douro winemakers. The cellars afford a window onto how Douro wine was made for generations. The visit also includes the cozinha dos caseiros - the traditional kitchen of the vineyard workers - where the cooking customs, daily life and rhythms of the working estate are felt. It is a part of the visit that few tastings in the Douro can offer and one that places the wines in the broader context of the people and traditions that have shaped them.

The tasting itself walks guests through a selection of wines. The wines are served alongside the estate's own extra virgin olive oil, olives, a tomato dip, regional cheese, jams, raisins and local bread. The pairings are not decorative - they are the way the wines have always been read in this region and they form part of how Elisabete presents them.

The Estate Tasting €80
A guided wine tasting of three wines along with food pairings; you should allow approximately one and a half hours.

The Reserve Tasting €140
An extended experience that builds on the Estate Tasting with the addition of a Reserva classified wine and an Old White Port; you should allow a time of approximately two hours.

To enquire about a visit and make a reservation, please use the form on our Contact page.

We can usually host up to eight people in one private group. For private celebrations, anniversaries, extended formats including lunch on the estate or other bespoke arrangements we welcome enquiries - please reach out via our Contact page with what you have in mind.

We respond personally and will work with you on dates, group size and any particular interests you would like the tasting to reflect.

Tastings are offered in Portuguese, English, Spanish and French.