The wow factor

Raise a glass to these wine-centric wonders

Raise a glass! A mammoth project is set to transform Porto’s former wine warehouse district into a new cultural quarter

First came Bordeaux’s Cité du Vin in 2016: a 10-storey temple to wine, set on the banks of the Garonne River. This year, Portugal has gone one better: following five years of development, and at a cost of €105m (£95m), World of Wine (WOW) opened in Porto in July, housed in 55,000sq metres of restored port wine cellars. Located in Vila Nova de Gaia, a dockside hub for the European wine industry since the 1700s, WOW is laid out around a central square, with views across Porto’s terracotta roofs and the Douro River.

As with Bordeaux, this ambitious opening hopes to gift the city with a fresh new cultural quarter. It’s one of the largest tourism projects to launch in Europe this year, with six museum experiences, nine restaurants, bars and cafes, a collection of event and exhibitions spaces and, to top it all off, a wine school offering courses focusing on Portuguese viticulture and gastronomy. There are also virtual tours through Portuguese wine production over the ages, and a guide to cork — another of the country’s major exports.

Set to join WOW later this year is the

Porto Fashion & Fabric Museum, housed in an 18th-century building that includes a chapel designed by celebrated Italian artist and architect Nicolau Nasoni, complete with restored frescos. wow.pt SARAH BARRELL

Enjoying wine at WOW Porto

BELOW: A glass of white wine with Porto’s River Douro in the background