WINTP - Wine Tourism in Portugal

Amazing service!! Pays very close attention to every single detail. Great accommodations, restaurants, wineries, cruise, etc. are top notch. We have been 100% satisfied with our trip! Special thanks to Joana Machado our travel advisor!!!

The beginning of our tour was quite nice after arriving at the winery. Our tour was nice and our lunch was lovely. But that is where the problems began and have continued for the last 24 days in my attempts for this company to do the right thing. This could have been a lovely tour, but based on their attitude and customer service, I wish I could give 0 stars. Our lunch started late and then we experienced a very long delay between our two starter courses of our meal and our main course. We asked if we were going to be ok time wise to catch the train portion of our tour, which we were really looking forward to. We were assured by the wait staff that all would be ok and to enjoy our lunch. So we did until the host of the winery came up to our table in a panic stating we had to hurry up and pay because we were going to miss our train. We paid as quickly as possible and rushed onto the pickup truck which would drive us to the train station. We didn't even get down the driveway of the winery before our driver was called and told the train had already left the station. The host of the winery offered to call a taxi for all of us (we were a party of 4 and there was another couple who was part of our tour who also missed the train due to the long delayed luncheon). The taxi literally took an hour to arrive. He drove us to the next winery that was on our scheduled tour (at our expense no less), but with the hour long wait and then the long drive to the winery, we could not even check in at the next winery because we had no time. We literally had to call for another taxi to bring us directly back to the train station so we wouldn't miss the last train back to Porto for the evening! I shared our very disappointing experience with Paulo Sottomayer, the CoFounder of Wine Tourism in Portugal and his exact words were "we are not responsible for train delays or delays incurred by our partners or for transportation expenses.” So basically, Wine Tourism In Portugal is only responsible to take your 100 euros per person and put it in their bank account, but they are not responsible for ANYTHING that happens on their so called tours! I wasn't even asking for a full refund. I explained that there were 4 components to their tour (wine tasting/tour, lunch, a train ride through the Douro Valley, and a 2nd wine tasting). We only received 2 of the 4 tour components, so I was only requesting a 50% refund. He refused flatly - but offered "a significant discount on any future tours" should I be so ignorant as to book another disorganized tour with such an underhanded, irresponsible, and unreliable tour company. I would not recommend Wine Tourism in Portugal to my worst enemy as they do not stand behind their services and when you don't get what you paid for, they simply do not care. They are extremely shameful in their business practices. BTW, if they actually write a response with more lies like they have already tried to do in their emails, I have all of the documented emails and time-stamped photos proving what I am alleging is 100% truth. I fully recommend everyone stay away from Paulo Sottomayer and Wine Tourism in Portugal, but I don’t believe - with their poor execution and horrific customer service - that they will be in business very much longer. Be wary if they open another company under a different name.

This is the first time I’ve used a company to plan and then deliver an itinerary. I’m so glad I did as when faced with such an overwhelming choice of wineries and hotels in the Douro Valley and not a lot of time there The team at WTP came up with a near perfect schedule. We were able to tweak the itinerary a few times to get it spot on. The wineries selected were all different with a mix of private and group tours and tastings. The range was definitely something which made the trip even better. Lunches were delicious and I think the only changes we would make in hindsight were those which gave us more time at lunch on one day and removing our final winery so we had more time to spend at the pool at our lovely hotel. It’s a fine balance and hard to know but we did feel a little rushed on a couple of occasions because we had a full afternoon. Our driver was always punctual and made sure we were introduced at reception etc. He fell well short of being a tour guide however but was certainly an expert driver. It’s worth understanding that at the outset ie driver! Overall a truly memorable trip in which we felt we really did get to know the Douro and its wines and port. It’s a stunning region and this tour simply made it so relaxing and enjoyable. Great communication with WTP and some very important and detailed information on the COVID protection measures which greatly reassured us and we chose to continue with the trip despite the need to isolate on return to the UK!

Everything was absolutely perfect. Rita helped us plan VERY LAST MINUTE and went above and beyond to help us celebrate our 25th anniversary (a year late). Our tour guides, "The Two Claudias"; Our drivers, Fernando and Carlos were all amazing guides, drivers and overall ambassadors for your beautiful country. We are already thinking about when we can come back to see Douro and some other of your wine regions. We wish we could have stayed longer! We are now in love with Portugal, and we haven’t even seen all of it, 6 days was too short! Every restaurant and waiter treated us like we were the only people there and brought us the most delicious foods and wines. The staff everywhere we ate were amazing hosts. We were not able to stay very late for Fado because we were nervous not to be late to fly, but WOW! what we were able to stay for was amazing! That might be one recommendation, that perhaps Fado be the first day arriving in Lisboa since when you arrive you haven't really toured that city yet when you are dropped off at the hotel. Fado that night would have been a perfect into to somewhere you could go in the city the evening you arrive.

We had an excellent experience in Porto and the Douro Valley. Thank you Rita and Wine Tourism in Portugal.

Everything was first rate, on time, no hassle. Having never been to the Douro Valley before, we did not know what to expect and Wine Tourism took care of everything. We appreciated the hotels, lunches and wine tours they set up. It was fantastic. I encourage you to turn your trip over to them and you will not be disappointed.

We’ve had a wonderful long weekend in Porto thanks to Joana and the Wine Tourism Portugal Team! Excellent choice of tours, visits, cellars and restaurants. We also enjoyed our private guide and drivers, the professional planning and a meticulously well organized road book. Well done and we’ll be back ?

I did the 3-Day Porto and Douro Wine Tour December 2021. From the moment I inquired about the tour Rita was very attentive and responsive to my parties needs. We took a train from Lisbon to Porto to start our tour. Because we are still in the midst of a pandemic with ever changing in countries rules and restrictions, Rita communicated Portugal’s covid-rule changes in a timely manner and scheduled our covid antigen tests for us ahead of time with costs and instructions. We arrived in Porto and took a taxi to the Pharmacy. The testing and results came quickly and we then checked into our hotel (the hotel required a negative test prior to check in). On our first evening there we had dinner at Traça Restaurant for a planned 5 course meal with wine pairings & they knew about our food allergies ahead of time and accommodated us. The meals were great and the staff was attentive! Day 2 - we had four wine cellar tours at Graham’s, Ferreira, and Calem. Calem had a Fado show included. We had lunch at Fladgate Restaurant with planned menu and pairing, again they accommodated for allergies. Since we had our recent negative covid tests we had no issues following covid protocol. In hindsight, I didn’t realize how much port wine we would be drinking throughout the day. On day 2 we had 13 glasses of port wines at the tasting. Some crackers and water with. At Graham’s we purchased a cheese platter to eat with our wines. Graham’s was our favorite cellar of the day! It was a long day, but a great experience. Everything was planned well and we had zero issues. Distance between the cellars was a little much for us so we planned on taxi’s or Ubers to get us to each location. That was an added expense for us, but I knew that ahead of time. Day 3 - we had a private driver pick us up at the hotel to drive us to the Douro Valley. He was early and arrived while we were eating breakfast. He was great throughout the day! We got to Douro early so he took us to the river to stretch and view the sights at the bottom before heading to our first vineyard tour. We went to Quinta das Carvalhas (amazing views of the hills), a quick tour of Quinta de La Rosa which then included a pre-planned menu and wine pairings. This was hands down the best meal we had the entire time in Portugal. Our last tour was at Quinta do Porto. We arrived early, but I was feeling car sick. So we opted to skip the tour of their location and just try the port wines. They were very nice about it! We then were driven back to the hotel. We actually had Rita book us an additional night at the hotel instead of checking out that morning like the tour was originally planned. Additionally, we needed another PCR covid test ahead of our flight back to the US. Rita booked that ahead of time for us too. We arrived and had no issues there. It seems weird to say, but we had zero issues throughout this 3-day tour. We loved every moment of it! We have already recommended the tour to friends for future travel! Thank you to Wine Tourism Portugal for planning everything! We had a great time!