By some stroke of luck I was able to book a last minute reservation at Quinta Da Côrte, a small vineyard and hotel high in the Douro valley. Once you reach the property the views are breathtaking. The French architect Pierre Yovanovitch recently restored the 17th century winery and house, and added adjoining buildings.

The public transport trek from Porto involves catching the Douro train from Porto to Pinhão and taking a taxi up the mountain. Or if you are clumsy like me and stand at the wrong platform in Porto, and miss the train, you can catch another train to the town of Marco de Canaveses and hop on the Douro train from there.

The bedrooms spare no detail from the embroidered pillow shams to the art from Etel Adnan. You can sign up each day for dinner and the option is typically between meat or fish 3 course meals. I also found a new-to-me soap brand Castalbel that I brought home from their store in Lisbon.

They have a wine tasting tour of the property that goes over the extensive history of producing wine in the Douro region. Both the new modern winery addition to Quinta da Côrte and the original (1800’s) winery are visible to view. Unfortunately living in Ontario means you can’t ship the wine back because of the LCBO monopoly on sales in the province.

The other winery’s nearby to check out are Quinta do Vallado and Quinta do Bomfin. Alternatively you can sit in the pool and enjoy the stunning views over the Douro region.