João Pinto

For twenty-two years I worked in a port wine lodge in Vila Nova de Gaia. I started carrying barrels at nineteen and finished as a cellar master's assistant, tasting from the casks every morning. When the lodge was sold to a larger group I decided to retire from the cellar but not from wine, and I began guiding in 2019. My tastings are not a sales presentation. I explain how port is made, why a tawny and a ruby taste so different, how the rabelo boats brought barrels down the Douro, and how to read a label so you are not fooled at the airport shop. I speak Portuguese, English and French. I am a quiet guide. I would rather pour a second glass than talk for ten minutes. My sessions now run live on video from Porto: I carry the phone, you watch from wherever you are and ask anything.