In the next years we will see a face-lift for Gaia of truly historic dimensions… Massive projects are in the making – and the Lodge of Taylor’s will be in the center of it all.  “The World of Wine” is supposed to open in 2020, an amazing undertaking. Restaurant, museums, a wine school, retail shops – it all will come together under the roof of several empty warehouses of the TAYLOR FLADGATE PARTNERSHIP, located directly below the YEATMAN HOTEL, which also belongs to this group. This might be the most ambitious project the Port industry has ever seen; the price tag will be around EUR 100 million. While it is estimated that this year around 100,000 visitors will stop by the Lodge of Taylor’s, it is predicted that the new project will attract up to 1 million annual visitors… That will be an incredible boost to the economy of Porto and Gaia.

We can see already a little bit of the future if we go now to the Lodge of Taylor’s. In the past, I would come here to eat lunch – the view from the BARON FLADGATE restaurant, directly located next to the Lodge, has maybe the best view of any restaurant in Porto / Gaia. However, the lodge wasn’t so exciting; other lodges were more interesting.

That has all changed in the summer of 2016. A complete remodeling was done, a lot of money was invested (EUR 1.5 million) and more importantly, a lot of thoughts were invested. From the start to the end of the new tour you can see that it’s well designed, with the real focus on how to educate the visitor in the best way about Porto, Port Wine and the Douro.

What makes this tour already special is that it is the first audio tour of any lodge in Gaia. Visitors to the QUINTA DO PANASCAL know already the system, as the Quinta also uses it to let their visitors walk through the vineyards on their own while listening to audio-tapes in their own langues. But, that tour can’t be compared to the very comprehensive audio information that Taylor’s has compiled for the visitors of the Lodge in Gaia. Every visitor receives a small device that looks a little bit like a cell phone and can control the tour on his or her own time. The tour is available in five languages (English, German, Spanish, French and Portuguese) and on average the listening to the audio while walking the lodge will take approx. one hour. But with this device we can listen again to parts that we want to have repeated, we can fast forward to the next section is a topic is not so interesting for us. If you are into photography (like me) then this is the perfect place to take photos. Nobody bothers you, you walk in the lodge alone (or with other tourists, if you want to) and you can take perfect photos.

The tour itself costs EUR 12 – very reasonable. Two glasses of Port are included: The white Chip Dry Port and the Late Bottled Vintage. Why this two wines? Well, Taylor’s is very proud that they invented these two Port Wine styles and therefore believe that they are the perfect wines to represent the company. For children older than 8 years the tour costs EUR 6 – and unfortunately they are not allowed to try the Port Wines – but they get delicious grape juice and some crackers instead.

Every visitor gets also a printed map of the lodge – which makes it very easy to understand the lay-out of the tour. Close to the reception is a nice model of the Douro Valley that helps visitors to get a better understanding about the origin of Port Wine; there are also mane old artefacts that show that Taylor’s indeed is a company with 4 centuries of history. Afterwards the tour leads us through the massive room with thousands of barrels, towards the most likely most photographed wine barrel on the planet… Taylor’s understands what is important for us these days… and the built the perfect setup to take a selfie with their iPad in front of a beautiful, large “balseiro” – a gigantic wine barrel. Visitor’s can take photos and then get them emailed. Rarely saw I so many happy people in Port Wine lodges as here in front of the selfie place.

Then we learn about the Douro Valley and the different Quintas of Taylor’s, we learn about different Port styles and how to age the wine. Visitors get a glance of how many different kinds of Port exist. Walking past all the barrels and beautiful bottles has of course raised our desire to taste some of these marvelous wines – and yes, we can do that at the end of the tour.

As mentioned, we have two wines included in our tour – but I highly recommend that you upgrade your tasting. At Taylor’s, the sky is the limit… Show me another Lodge in Gaia or anywhere else where you can taste wines from the mid 19th century by the glass (SCION, EUR 120)?!!?! Or, much more affordable and still an amazing wine: The Single Harvest (Colheita) 1966 for only EUR 24 a glass. A truly great experience. You can taste the famous Taylor’s Vintage Port (only made from the best grapes and only declared in the best years) and compare it against a Single Quinta Vintage Port from Quinta de Vargellas. Great tawnies, from 10 to 40 years… While Taylor’s expects their visitors to need 90 minutes for the tour, I spent nearly three hours in the lodge – also thanks to tasting several amazing Ports at the end.

So, yes, the remodeling has been a game changer. For me, Taylor’s is now the most complete Lodge in Gaia. Nice layout, very informative, beautiful, well-thought, great wines, friendly staff. More remodeling for the lodge is on the way, to improve the kitchen, so that the restaurant can again become one of the best restaurants in Gaia.

I’m sure that the next years will bring amazing change – and I hope that all the new projects in Gaia will be done with the same sense of maintaining traditions and the beauty of the good old days with the contemporary elegance and functionality as the remodeling of this Lodge has been done. One more thing: You can walk up here from the waterfront of Gaia – but the way is – especially in the hot summer months – very exhausting. Therefore I suggest to take a taxi up the hill – and then walk down, towards the Douro – you will pass by some other lodges on the way down – but none of them will be as complete as Taylor’s Lodge.

Opening Hours: Monday to Sunday: 10h – 19h30 – last entry at 18H

Rua do Choupelo, nº 250

4400-088 Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal

GPS Coordinates: 41.13394, -8.61435

Tel. +351 223 772 956 / +351 223 772 950

Fax. +351 223 742 899

Facebook: www.facebook.com/taylors.port.wine

Web-Page: www.taylor.pt