Friday Pinhao

This morning we travelled by bus to Provesende, a small village at the top of the hills surrounding the Douro Valley. It is a narrow road with many tight turns and oncoming traffic have to wait for our bus to navigate the turns. We have a magnificent view of the valley and the terraced vineyards as we climb.

We are welcomed into the village by a young couple who are playing a French horn and a clarinet. It is a charming village with fantastic views over the valley. We visit two churches, one modest and one very ornate. We then go on to a bakery where beautiful bread is made for the village and surrounding areas. Then on to a wine mansion which has a history of 16 generations of living in the mansion and making wine. We taste some bread with olive oil, chicken and chorizo and some port wine - delicious. In the afternoon we visit the Quinta do Bonfim wine estate, walk among the terrace vineyards, see some harvesting and wine production and of course taste some port. We buy a couple bottles of tawny port for our onward journey.

Have another great meal for the Captains dinner and finish off with a couple of baileys.

Crushed grapes being turned into port