A Rosé, Two Whites, Two Tawnies and Two LBVs Inside 400 Metres

Two and a half hours, three producers, seven wines, twelve people at most, and the entire route covers four hundred metres. Everything is next to the meeting point, which makes this one of the few tours in Porto that works exactly as well in rain as in sun.

The seven are named in advance rather than left vague, and the list is chosen to teach the category rather than to fill glasses: a rosé, a dry white, a white reserva, a tawny reserva, a ten-year tawny, and two ruby Late Bottled Vintages. Put in that order they show what the two decisions in port actually do. Ageing in wood pulls colour out and nuts in; ageing in bottle keeps the fruit and softens the structure.

The three cellars are deliberately unalike, running from small barrels to wooden vats holding thousands of litres, and the guide explains what each producer is trying to make. The operator's stated view is that there is a large difference between drinking port and drinking good port, and the selection is built on that.

Twelve is one of the smallest caps of any port tour in Gaia, and the reason the guide can be heard in a cellar.

Adults only: nobody under sixteen can take part, and everyone needs a booking whether or not they drink. Entry to all three houses is included. Food is not, and no animals are allowed, service animals included. Guided in English.

The tour leaves at the scheduled time with no exceptions and you cannot join once it has gone, so arrive early. Look for the umbrella outside the tourism office on Avenida Diogo Leite.