PORT

The sweet ruby-red fortified wine takes it name from Porto, which sits on the Douro river in northern Portugal. British families arrived 300 years ago to produce it, and many of their names still live on, such as Taylor, Warre, Graham, Cockburn, Symington and Dow.

The south side of the river, Gaia, where these port lodges are located, is having a moment, with the creation of a World of Wine museum set to regenerate acres of old warehouses and attract even more tourists (and maybe home buyers) to the Unesco World Heritage Site city.

Portugal’s second city has been on the up for a couple of years. The old town, or Baixa, has been rejuvenated, with prices rising 30 per cent between 2013 and 2016, and renovated flats are now €418.50 to €558 per sq ft. “We can expect to see steady growth of over 5 per cent per year,” says Charles Roberts of agent Fine & Country. “Porto started from a low price base and is still far behind Lisbon.”

A unique new project, The Rebello, is placed to take advantage of the uptick in wine tourism in Gaia: six converted riverside warehouses will house 106 luxury apartments, priced from €237,000 to €1.1million, with 4 per cent gross returns and six weeks’ usage (through Fine & Country). There will be a hotel, a spa and restaurants.