Even most Port Wine nerds have never heard about Augusto’s… which is a pity, because they have really good old Tawnies.

It’s not easy to find their lodge – you have to venture into one of the small walkways in Gaia to get to them – but it’s worth it. This place looks like a Port Wine Lodge should look, as many barrels are stored here and everything is either wood or old stone… But when you knock at the barrels, you will notice that they are empty and only here for decorative reason. I was told that they would need a permission to age Port Wine in Gaia and that it is the company’s plan to do that at some point of time – but they don’t have the permission yet.

Augusto is the name of the family that is behind this project. It’s a pure Portuguese company, a small family enterprise. They started only in 2014 with their Port Wine adventure. Two other Portuguese families are very important for them: The Fortunatos from Quinta da Devesa and the Cardosos from Quinta do Estanho. These are their main wine providers. As a rule of thumb you could say that everything Tawny comes from the Quinta da Devesa and everything Ruby comes from the Quinta do Estanho.

I like especially the 20 Year Old Tawny and the 40 Year old Tawny. These both wines have become my “house wine”.

It is a small family-run company, a little bit hidden in Gaia, off the beaten track, not very knows (yet) – and that means that even if Gaia is full with tourists, you still might be one of very few guests visiting this premises and you will get a very personalized service. For EUR 5.00 you get an interesting tour through the small lodge – and as it is a small lodge and you will be more or less one-on-one with the tour-guide, you will learn a lot about Port Wine. Just check out the ratings of the visitors on Trip Advisor for Augusto’s – they are as good as it gets.

By the way – if you buy a bottle of Port, then you don’t need to pay the EUR 5.00 for the tour…

My recommendation is: Visit the lodge, speak to the friendly staff, taste a few fines for EUR 5.00, spend a little bit more and taste the 20 Year Old Tawny… and then you buy a few bottles of that wine…

Timetable: Open every day from 11:00 – 18:00

Web-Page: http://www.portoaugustos.pt/

Contact: R. França 8, 4400-174 Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal

Telephone: +351 22 319 0614

Email: info@portoaugustos.pt