May 4-15, 2025 with Marcelo Padua & Pedro Moreira
Even though cities like Porto and Lisbon have become famous tourist destinations and are now crawling with tourists, much of Portugal remains off the beaten path and this country is still one of Europe’s hidden gems. Our tour started in the bustling city of Porto with a visit to two of the main Porto wine lodges (that’s where the wine gets aged) and some easy birding along the mouth of the Douro River. This was fun, but the real Portugal drew us inland as we made our way up the Douro, with breathtaking views of the terraced vineyards that have made this place a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with Black Kites flying bellow eye level and Eurasian Tree-sparrows nesting on ancient trees that adorned the manicured gardens of Quinta da Pacheca, where we had a beautiful lunch paired with some excellent wines and followed by some wonderful Port.
A scenic drive got us to Castelo Rodrigo, a picturesque medieval village that would be our home for the next two days and from where we would explore some of Portugal’s wildest regions in the Douro International Natural Park and at Faia Brava reserve. These places offered us some magnificent views of Eurasian Griffon, Egyptian Vulture, Blue Rock Thrushes, and many others, while we enjoyed a couple of unforgettable picnic lunches paired with fabulous wines.
Next we turned south and made our way to Portalegre, where we visited a family-run winery headed by one of Portugal’s greatest wine experts. This was a one-night stop to break the journey southward, but we picked up some great birds, including Cinereous Vulture, Short-toed Snake-Eagle, and Red Kite. We continued our journey south and made a wonderful stop that yielded great birds such as Eurasian Spoonbill, Melodious Warbler, European Bee-eater, Common Nightingale, and Booted Eagle before reaching Mertola.
Mertola is a fascinating town with layers and layers of history, and even our hotel had an archeological dig right in the middle of the lobby. From there, we explored a variety of habitats that produced some world-class birding, with species like Great Bustard, Eurasian Roller, Red-legged Partridge, Western Black-eared Wheatear, and some memorable sightings of Spanish Eagle. It is no wonder that this is one of the best birding areas in Europe.
Our tour concluded at the beautiful Casa de Palmela, where we treated ourselves to incredible accommodations and enjoyed some fabulous shorebird action, with more Dunlins, Ruddy Turnstones, and Common Ringed Plovers than we could count, mixed in with less common birds such as the Kentish Plovers, Curlew Sandpipers, and Red Knots. We also explored the forests adjacent to our lodging and found Iberian Chiffchaff, Eurasian Nuthatch, and even a Tawny Owl.
This was a fabulous trip, with a wonderful group, and I really loved sharing the hidden wonders of Portugal with each of you. I hope our paths cross once more somewhere and we get to do it again.
Listed below you will find the wines we sampled on our tour and hopefully you can find some of them back at home.
WINERY, WINE, VINTAGE, REGION, TYPE OF WINE
Graham’s, Six Grapes, No Vintage, Porto, Port
Graham’s, Late Bottled Vintage, 2019, Porto, Port
Graham’s, Tawny Port, 10 Years. Porto, Port
Symington Family Estates, Altano Naturalmente Douro, 2021, Douro, White Wine
Quinta do Vesuvio, Pombal do Vesuvio, 2021, Douro, Red Wine
Graham’s, Tawny Port, 20 Years. Porto, Port
Calem, Fine White, No Vintage. Porto, Port
Calem, Tawny, 10 Years, Porto. Port
Sogevinus, Curva Douro DOC, 2023, Douro, White Wine
Bursmester, Douro DOC, 2022, Douro, Red Wine
Kopke, Tawny, 20 Years, Porto. Port
Pacheca, Douro Superior, 2023, Douro, White Wine
Pacheca, Douro Superior, 2022, Douro, Red Wine
Pacheca, Tawny Port, 20 Years. Porto, Port
Pacheca, Reserva, 2023, Douro, White Wine
Pacheca, Grande Reserva TN, 2022, Douro, Red Wine
Altano, Rewilding Edition, 2022, Douro, Red Wine
Quinta dos Castelares, Vinho Biologico, 2024, Douro, White Wine
Quinta dos Castelares, Vinho Biologico, 2024, Douro, Red Wine
Casa Agricola Manuel Joaquim Caldeira, Fronteira Reserva, 2023, Douro Red Wine
CARM, Vinha da Urze,2023, Douro, White Wine
Quinta de Vale de Pios, Vale de Pios, 2019, Douro, Red Wine
Cabecas do Reguengo, Respiro Flower, 2021, Alentejo (Portalegre). White Wine
Cabecas do Reguengo, Equinocio, 2023, Alentejo (Portalegre). White Wine
Cabecas do Reguengo. Solsticio, 2022, Alentejo (Portalegre). Red Wine
Teixeirinha, Poupeiro, 2022, Alentejo (Portalegre). White Wine
Tapada do Chaves, Tapada do Chaves Reserva,2017, Alentejo (Portalegre). Red Wine
Blandy’s, Bual Madeira Dry, 5 years, Madeira, Fortified Wine
Esporao, Reserva, 2022, Alentejo. White Wine
Herdade da Maroteira, Senhor Doutor, 2022, Alentejo, Red Wine
Herdade da Bombeira, Chardonnay, 2022, Alentejo, White Wine
Herdade da Bombeira, Mario Grande Escolha, 2021, Alentejo, Red Wine
Aveleda, Loureiro e Alvarinho, 2022, Vinho Verde, White Wine
Herdade da Poupa, Poupa Reserva, 2022, Alentejo, Red Wine
Frederick Von S., Conde de Mertola, 2017, Alentejo, Red Wine
Henrique Uva, Mingorra Reserva, 2019, Alentejo, Red Wine
Herdade Malhadinha Nova, Peceguina, 2023, Alentejo, White Wine
Monge e filhas, Encostas de Serpa Reserva, 2023, Alentejo, White Wine
Francisco Fernandes Garcia, Convento da Tomina, 2023, Alentejo, Red Wine
Herdade Da Bombeira, Reserva, 2022, Alentejo, Red Wine
Herdade Da Bombeira, Escolha Touriga Nacional, 2022, Alentejo, Red Wine
Bacalhoa, Moscatel de Setubal, No Vintage, Alentejo, Fortified Wine
Herdade dos Grous, Reserva, 2023, Alentejo, White Wine
Herdade dos Grous, Reserva, 2016, Alentejo, Red Wine
Herdade dos Grous, Reserva, 2019, Alentejo, Red Wine
Aveleda, Solos de Xisto, 2021, Vinho Verde, White Wine
Companhia das Leizirias, Tyto Alba, 2020, Alentejo, White Wine
Casa Ermelinda Freitas, Sauvignon Blanc, 2024, White Wine
Susana Esteban & Dirk Niepoort, Sem Vergonha, 2021, São Mamede (Alentejo), Red Wine
Aveleda, Arco D’aguieira, 2017, Bairrada, Red Wine
Alambre, Moscatel de Setubal 20 years, No Vintage, Alentejo, Fortified Wine
Quinta do Pessegueiro, Pessegueiro Reserva, 2023, Douro, White Wine
Quinta do Pessegueiro, Pessegueiro Reserva, 2022, Douro, Red Wine
Aveleda, Quinta D’aguieira Brut, No vintage, Bairrada, Sparkling Wine
You can see my complete trip report on eBird at this link: https://ebird.org/tripreport/437841
You can download a combined PDF of this page and the eBird report at this link: https://fieldguides.com/triplists/por25TRIPLIST.pdf
-- Marcelo Padua