Elite Traveler March-April 2016

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During the harvest, visitors may even (by special arrangement) get into lagares to experience the strange prickly-cum-squidgy sensation of foot treading

Clockwise from top left: Quinta do Bomfim; Quinta dos Canais – home of Cockburn's Port; the cellar at The Yeatman; Roman-style pool; The Yeatman's welcoming lobby; historic Porto houses

The Fladgate Partnership opened in 2010 in Vila Nova de Gaia, The Yeatman. A member of the Relais & Châteaux group, this beautifully designed and furnished hotel and spa, with 82 luxurious and spacious rooms and suites, with spectacular views over the Douro to the historic heart of Porto, make it a destination in its own right. But the utterly irresistible attractions for wine lovers are the excellent Michelin starred restaurant, the multi-award-winning wine list, the largest collection of Portuguese wine in the world (more than 1,300 wines, 82 by the glass), an extensive program of events and publications ably overseen by wine director Beatriz Machado and a treasure trove of a wine shop. The Symington family also tempts visitors to Vila Nova de Gaia with the refurbished Cockburn’s and Graham’s lodges. Situated in the latter, the prize-winning Vinum Restaurant and Wine Bar opened in 2013, with beautiful views out over the city and the river. The Fladgate Partnership is opening its renovated Taylor’s lodge this year. Back upriver, it is hoped that after all the boats, cars and trains have passed, “the silence of the Douro” will always fall. But thanks to the imaginative and responsible steps that leading Port producers are taking to tempt visitors into the valley, the fado (a word meaning fate or destiny and the name of a form of traditional, usually mournful, music) that seems particularly poignant there should never become a requiem.