There are so incredibly many reasons why you should visit the Cockburn-Loge. First of all, is the largest lodge in Gaia in the historical part of Gaia. The number of wooden barrels is just mind-blowing – the largest number of vats and barrels in the whole of Porto/Gaia. They come in all shapes and even in some different colors – if you ever see a green Port Wine barrel – most likely it’s from Cockburn. So, lover of barrels – this is your place to visit.

However, first of all: You can easily spot that this lodge is part of the Symington-Empire. Only a few years ago, the Symington-Family bought the brand Cockburn and ended up also with owning the lodge. The building was beautiful but somehow a little bit run down – so it was decided to remodel the lodge. Now the visitor is greeted by a world of bright wood when he/she enters the lodge – a wood that we see also in the 1890 Lodge of Graham’s and in the visitor-center of Quinta do Bomfim. I call this the Symington-Signature – combining old buildings with modern, aesthetic wooden structures.

The first part of the lodge is the reception, but also already the wine shop and the tasting area. Behind a large glass-front we can see further down inside the lodge already many wooden barrels. After paying EUR 4,00 for our guided tour and the promise of a tasting afterwards, we stroll a little bit through the wine shop and look at all the beautiful bottles of Port and still Douro Wines. While Cockburn doesn’t produce any still wine, other brands of the Symington-Family do – and you can buy those wines here (be it Altano, Post Scriptum or Chryseia – you will find them here).

The tour leads us through the maze of barrels, barrels and more barrels. All tour guides are well trained and are very eager to answer all questions. The visitor learns about the Douro-Valley, the different Port types, the different shapes of barrels – and finally we watch a short movie that shows a little bit of the past of the company and focuses especially on the people that you normally don’t see – the grape-pickers, the blenders and the coopers. The team of six coopers is busy to maintain a stock of 6,000 oak barrels and over 100 vats – it’s amazing to watch them work.

As so often in life, also here in the Cockburn’s lodge the old rule applies: The most interesting things are the things that you are not allowed to see. There is a small flight of stairs going underground, to a small dungeon called “Garrafeira”. Here you see a different world – a world of amazing Port bottles in the middle of mold and spider-webs… aging for decades and some even for centuries. While most domestic helpers would get fired, down here the signs of years gone by are just perfect. It’s an incredibly beautiful place – but unfortunately the normal tour doesn’t cover this part of the lodge.

The tour finishes with a tasting. And while two glasses of Port are included, I would upgrade to some of the better stuff. My recommendation is the “Symington’s Tasting”: Cockburn Special reserve, Cockburn’s LBV, a 10 and a 20 year old Tawny, Quinta dos Canais Vintage 2007 and Cockburn’s Vintage 2007. The is an amazing package, for EUR 20.00. It’s the perfect tasting menu, as you can see if the LBV is really better than the Reserve Ruby, you can see the difference between a 10 and a 20 year old Tawny and then you can see how a Single Quinta Vintage compares to the “real” vintage. An amazing tasting, that kept me busy for quite some time.

One other great thing that makes a visit to this lodge worth while: “Picnic under the Vines”. Cockburn has joined forces with the really outstanding “Mercearia das Flores”, a well-known delicatessen-store in Porto, and offers for EUR 15.00 a picnic package with a lot of typical Portuguese goodies. You have to order this prior to your visit – and it’s amazing to sit after the tour outside in front of the lodge, at wooden tables, under the wine that grows over the patio… A magic moment and worth to have a few more glasses of Port.

During the summer months and the harvest time in September I recommend to get in contact with the friendly people at Cockburn to reserve a slot in one of their tours – it is a busy time in Gaia.

Contact:

Cockburn’s Port Wine Lodge
Rua Serpa Pinto 346
4400-307 Vila Nova de Gaia
Portugal
Tel (+351) 913 007 950
cockburnslodge@cockburns.com

Visiting Hours
1st April 2016 to 31st October 2016:
Opened every day except Tuesday
10h30-19h00 (Last Tour at 18h00)