Elite Traveler March-April 2016

INSPIRE DOURO

This feature was originally published in the March 2016 issue of The World of Fine Wine . Neil Beckett is editor of the magazine.

Destination Douro Looking for sunshine, fine food and superb wines, but keen to leave the crowds behind? Set a course for the Douro Valley in Portugal, but hurry, with all the region's major Port producers creating beautiful places to stay, eat and imbibe, it won't stay a secret for much longer

The challenge is age old and worldwide, but becoming ever more difficult as myriad travel websites and magazines send millions of tourists to every part of the planet. How can areas of cultural importance or outstanding natural beauty be protected and sustained without destroying much of what makes them so special? The Douro Valley, recognized by Unesco as a World Heritage Site in 2001, is certainly of crucial importance to the culture of wine, and there is no more stunning wine region, the occasionally golden River Douro surrounded by rugged mountains of granite and schist that are given pattern and texture by the terraces traversing them, seemingly as natural as the wrinkles on the furrowed brow of a rogador (grape treading master) at harvesttime. But while the leading Port groups are as deeply committed as ever to the region and continue to invest, and while it has also benefited from the success of recent Vintages, special old Tawnies, and table wines, it still needs other forms of support if it and its people are to thrive. The Douro still depends on some 33,000 small farmers. Even Symington Family Estates (SFE) – owner of brands including Cockburn’s, Dow’s, Graham’s and Warre’s, and the largest owner of vineyards in the Douro, with 27 quintas and 2,486 acres of vines – can meet only 20 percent or so of its grape requirements. But only 800 of the farmers own more than 20 acres of land, and many of the 33,000 are struggling to stay viable.

by Neil Beckett