A Douro Cruise Guide for Wine Lovers

After rising right on the border between Rioja and Castilla y Léon, high in the Picos de Urbión, the Douro's (Duero in Spanish) first major wine region is the aptly named Ribera del Duero. This high, arid plateau, prone to both severe frost and intense heat, is not an obviously inviting place to produce anything, never mind some of the world’s great red wines. Although grapes have been cultivated here alongside the delicious local lamb for hundreds of years, it was the high ambition of first Vega Sicilia and then Pesquera that really put Ribera del Duero on the world wine map. Both names remain highly sought after, but today there are plenty of others to discover: Aalto, Viña Mayor and Bodegas Bohórquez to name just a few.