Calem Wine Cellars An immersive tour to discover the history of Port and the Douro Valley

Traveller Reviews Google Calem Wine Cellars

4.3 sur 5 4881 reviews

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  5 sur 5 Reviews posted by Tushar Pande on 07/10/2025

  For context, the reason we chose this place was mainly due to the fact that of our 6 days in Portugal we only had 2 in Porto, and only 1.5 really in Porto considering that half a day was dedicated to Guimaraes.... Given these time constraints we found this place attractive as it was the only place in our research that gave you a winery tour along with a fado show at the end and both of those had good reviews. So we thought, well, why not, let's kill two birds with one stone and it turned out to be a brilliant decision! We booked them online and the overall winery tour >> wine tasting + fado experience takes about 1.5 hours. They begin with the tour (multiple languages available, we chose english) around 6.30 PM where our guide explained to us what distinguishes Port wine from other wines (both within Iberia and elsewhere) and why the soil and climate of the Douro valley make it ideal for Port wine cultivation. She also explained many minutiae about Portugese wine growing culture around Port wine and how it's more family business run and smaller scale than the industrial grade spanish wine growing culture. She threw around tidbits of cork also but honestly the best thing she told me was that there existed the notion of "Port and tonic" which is like "gin and tonic" but with Port wine instead and I can't believe I didn't know that from earlier research because boy it was delicious and "Port & tonic" IMO is the ONLY way to have Port wine... I dare you to change my mind....!! Anyway they took us through their winery, they showed all the barrels of different sizes and explain the significance of them... It's quite an exhaustive tour at the end of which your fado show is combined with the wine tasting experience... So for the wine tasting, they have us each a glass of the fine white and a 10 year aged tawny port red. You know how they say the best compliment that food can get is that the person eating just shuts up and eats it all up, I believe the finest compliment a wine tasting can get is if the taster ends up buying the wines they tasted and you can see now that those 2 bottles accompanied me in an 11 hour indirect flight to India, and now sit in my collection :) The Fado show was brilliant too, definitely the piece de resistance of the tour when paired with the wine tasting..... The performers were very talented and energetic and the atmosphere felt cosy enough for one to connect with the performers while admittedly not being a very small venue.... So if you want a fado where there is a very limited audience maybe this isn't the place for you.... We really enjoyed this experience though On the whole from the vibe of the place, to the staff, to the collection and killing 2 birds with one stone, I've no regrets and do recommend this place to folks who may want a similarly clubbed experience

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  5 sur 5 Reviews posted by tanquerel Amandine on 07/10/2025

  A great experience, with a passionate and very friendly guide. We loved it; it was very interesting, and the tasting was perfect. Thanks again

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  4 sur 5 Reviews posted by Pierre Lrc on 06/10/2025

  Great, but you have to be careful and attentive.