Poças — Attraction in Vila Nova de Gaia

One of the local producers of Porto wine with a 100-year history. It was very special for us to visit a family run place that is 100% Portuguese. They have several tours that vary in price depending the number of wines you taste at the end of the tour, which gives a lot of flexibility. The whole experience lasts 1 hour but the talk is less than 30 minutes.

I rate them with 4 stars because we were expecting much more from the talk, it is informative but not very complete. It was a bit rushed as well. In the cellar there’s is an exhibition by a Portuguese artist - the Luís Mendonça exhibition – Thirty-Three, Poças! And the guide told nothing about it. It was me to notice a copper thing hanging o f the wall with a poem in front of it. And only then she explained what it was. Apparently, it was an object to illustrate metaphors on the subject of wine accompanied by poems. How beautiful!.. We clearly showed a lot of interest and enthusiasm but she didn’t show us or tell us about any other objects. Judging from the name of the exhibition, I guess there are 33 objects, we maybe spotted 5-6 ourselves. The exhibition is something that makes them stand out from the rest. Why they don’t make a bigger thing out of it, I don’t understand. The information given at the tasting was very brief and rushed as well.

Maybe most visitors are interested in drinking wine and learning about it. Maybe that’s why guides eventually decided to the talks less and less informative.

Overall I would recommend it. If you want to have this experience in Porto this is a great place - an intimate setting, small groups, friendly staff, good lighting and atmosphere in the cellars , and good quality wine in the end. If you want to avoid the crowded, touristy places of better known brands,...

Worth the trip!

This Port wine house is not on the busy tourist route. We have had many wine tastings and tours in our day, and wanted to do something different. We asked at the information booth, on the main drag in Gaia, where the cellars are that offer a more personal experience and stated that we were willing to travel a bit off the main path.

She gave us a brochure (which is in the shape of a wine bottle) for Pocas Junior that had the address and map to the tasting room and cellar. We decided to take a 5 minute ride with Uber that cost 3 Euros, to experience what we hoped was a more personal tour and tasting. This Port house is located on a quiet street and is identified by a large "P" on the building.

Once inside, we were met by a personable and professional guide who gave us what turned out to be a private tour. The tour cost 3.5 Euros followed by a tasting of two Port wines. Our guide explained in detail the process for making Port as she walked us through their impressive working facility. She was highly knowledgeable and happily answered our questions. She explained that this Port house is owned and run by a Portuguese family and also clarified the difference between a Port and a Colheita.

We were treated with genuine hospitality, instead of simply being part of a large tour group. If you want to experience something unique and special,...

Our Gastromic experience at Poças wine cellar did not include a tour of the cellars. Despite the webpage saying every tasting includes a tour, we were charged an extra 10 euro per person. I booked the experience, however, a lady at the gift shop added the extra charges to a purchase one of my guests made verses seeking out me for payment. I was very embarrassed ! As well we were asked to choose one port to taste of two red ports presented. When we asked for a taste of the second port it was obvious our guide/server did not want to do this and she poured a small drip into one of our used wine glasses. The description of the experience states wines and ports , plural , will be sampled. Over all it was an extremely disappointing experience , this was my second time at Pocas and I can say the overall service has been reduced greatly. My company was taken back by the actions of staff and limited tasting as was I. Prior to writing this review I reached out twice to the Pocas to give this feedback and they never replied. The food prepared was absolutely sublime, my hats off...