Travel - On the road in the Douro - Part 1
![Travel - On the road in the Douro - Part 1](/content/images/size/w1200/2019/01/Paul-Caputo-Douro.jpg)
I do qutie a bit of travelling in the name of promoting my various wine projects and while it seems like a life of fancy labels, great food and endless social occaisions, I can tell you the job is harder than it looks. Ahem...
Every now and then a holiday is in order. Besides, it can be useful to wander vineyards and cellars as a consumer and to abosorb the atmosphere without scribbling notes and mentally planning articles.
I joined the very French Paul Deneulenaere and Laura Eliot for a few days in the Douro where we indulged in large qauntities of Port, Portuguese food and some local beers to battle scorching June temperatures. Here are a few memmories.
![](https://www.paulcaputo.wine/content/images/2019/01/The-two-Pauls.jpg)
Lunch was a key feature. The first was in Cantina 32, a cool and contemporary wine bar at 32 Rua das Flores, not far from the river. Simple but delicious food washed down with some fresh Vinho Verde and a bottle of x, A quick walking tour of the city lead us over the bridge and into Villa Nova de Gaia where we seemed unable to resist a 2007 white colheita from Dalvan.
![](https://www.paulcaputo.wine/content/images/2019/01/White-Port-1.jpg)
![](https://www.paulcaputo.wine/content/images/2019/01/IMG_0077.jpg)
We toasted the day away with a house party featuring a traditional method Malvasia Fina and an unecessary quanity of local wines form Dao and Bairrada.
![](https://www.paulcaputo.wine/content/images/2019/01/Sandemans.jpg)
![](https://www.paulcaputo.wine/content/images/2019/01/Classic-method-Malvasia-Fina.jpg)