Several ports in a storm

Tom Sweeney returns to his favourite city, Porto, and checks out the World of Wine

Torrential rain is a rarity in Porto, so there isn’t a big selection of umbrellas in the few shops that happen to sell them when you get caught in a downpour. That’s how I ended up walking about under one of those clear-plastic dome-shaped brollies that were favoured by the late Queen Elizabeth.

She had a big collection of them, made under royal warrant, and each had a different coloured band at the bottom, so she always had one to match her outfit.

Mine, however, had little yellow ducklings wearing wellies and splashing in puddles around the rim. I felt a right eejit.

Back at the Yeatman hotel, the bowler-hatted doorman took it from me, handed it to a young porter and told him to hurry up and hide it.

Both were clearly trying hard not to snigger, like the centurions in the Biggus Dickus scene from Monty Python’s Life of Brian.

There was only one thing for it – I squelched my way to the bar and had several ports in a storm.

Porto is famed as the home of port wine, made from grapes grown on the steep, terraced hillsides of the Douro Valley and fortified with brandy before fermentation is complete.

There are four main types – tawny (matured in the barrel), ruby (matured in the bottle), rosé and white.

Try white port with tonic, ice and a slice of lemon and you might never order a G&T again.

On my most recent trip of many to Porto – it’s my favourite city in the world and my default choice for a long weekend – I discovered Croft Pink during a tour of the World of Wine visitor attraction, right next door to the Yeatman.

It was like discovering a 50-quid note in a pair of jeans bound for the bin on the day before pay day.

According to an online reviewer, Croft Pink “presents attractive floral notes underlining the pungent, aromatic fruit aromas. The palate is full of deliciously ripe cherry and raspberry flavours with lovely nuances of honey and grapefruit”.

Or, as I would say: “Pour another one out and to hell with the gout.”

Known as WOW for short, and for good reason, World of Wine is a fascinating experience that tells the story of grape-growing and port production and how bark is turned into corks for the millions of bottles sold worldwide each year.

Proving that money does indeed grow on trees, Portugal’s cork industry was worth €1bn in 2022 when it harvested 200,000 tons of this sustainable, pliable, fireproof and waterproof material that’s put to a mind-boggling range of uses.

As a thermal insulator, it protects the batteries of electric cars and the nose cones of space rockets from heat.

It forms the core of sliotars and has been fashioned into, well, fashion – Lady Gaga has a big, puffy, purple ballgown made from cork.

It’s used in the construction industry to make house bricks, and in 2007 the Portuguese post office issued 230,000 self-adhesive €1 stamps made from you-know-what that were snapped up by collectors.

And of course, Australian bushmen hang corks from their hats to repel flies in the outback.

WOW, which is in Vila Nova de Gaia on the south bank of the Douro, didn’t exist when I first set foot in Portugal’s second city in 2010, and the Yeatman was a building site.

Now the hotel, which wears its well-earned five stars lightly, is a sight to behold – and so are the views across the river to historical, higgledypiggledy Porto on the north bank.

With so many visits under my belt, I’ve seen the city in all seasons.

Incessant rain in October was a novelty, but not even that could dull Porto’s charms, even though the grey-painted Dom Luis bridge almost disappeared in the deluge.

The double-decker arched iron bridge, which conveys pedestrians, cars and light rail trains across the river, was designed by German engineer Theophile Seyrig and

inaugurated in October 1886.

Seyrig’s name might not ring many bells, but his former business partner and mentor was Gustave Eiffel, whose eponymous tower in the French capital opened in May 1889.

While Paris got an Eiffel, Porto got an eyeful – the splendid Dom Luis is Porto’s most photographed landmark.

Come lunchtime, the rain had stopped, and by 3pm steam was rising from the pavements as the sun clocked on for the afternoon shift.

This was more like it.

Port is said to be the perfect partner for chocolate, and it just so happens that WOW, which sits at the centre of the Cultural District, has a wine school and a chocolate factory-cum-museum.

Talk about killing two birds with one stone – never have I been so keen to get to class.

Even though I had done my homework in the Yeatman bar, a wonderful world of newfound knowledge awaited as teacher Joao set up five bottles of the finest port for a tasting session.

(The last time I combined alcohol with school, I got six of the best from Mr Sheehan after he caught me and my pals guzzling a bottle of Buckfast behind the janitor’s shed.)

Joao poured generously from each bottle and talked about bouquets, cigar smoke, citrus and other stuff that went straight over my head while I made a show of twirling the glass, holding it up to the light, giving it a sniff and knocking back the contents.

It was only after I’d drained the last drop that I realised the ‘vase’ on the table was a spittoon.

Still, I got a fancy certificate saying I’d passed the taste test with flying colours – mostly tawny and ruby.

The chocolate factory tour passed by in a blur, but I do remember the souvenir shop, where you can buy a presentation box of individual small bars with a letter of the alphabet on each label so you can spell someone’s name.

I have a buddy who has, let’s say, large lugs, so I wrote “BIG EARS” for the girl behind the counter to put on his gift, but she must have been at the wine school too, because she got a wee bit mixed up.

I only learned this when my pal unwrapped his present in the pub and saw “BIG ARSE” on the labels.

He eventually saw the funny side and is itching to visit Porto, wise man.

PLAN YOUR TRIP

Ryanair flies from Dublin to Porto. Light rail trains connect the airport with the city centre. See the-yeatman-hotel.com for room rates at the Yeatman. For information on the must-visit World of Wine, see wow.pt

• For further information on accommodation, restaurants and visitor attractions, see visitporto.travel