Review: The Calem Port Wine Tour Experience

Would it be a trip to Porto without trying some of their famous port wine? After living in Portugal for almost 2 years, Porto quickly became one of our favourite cities and a Calem port wine tour with live traditional Fado is always a must when family come to visit!

If you’re looking for the best port wine cellar in Porto, you’re spoilt for choice in Porto but one of our favourites is Calem, and we’re not ashamed to say we’ve done several of their tasting tours. So if you’re curious about what to expect from a port wine tour in Portugal, keep reading because I’m about to explain it all.

We have paid for every Port Wine Tour we’ve done with Calem. All opinions in this post are my own and they’re not aware I’m writing this.

About Port Wine Cellars in Porto, Portugal

What I really like about Porto, and what I think makes it a really unique city, is that all of the Port wine cellars are located in one area, making it really accessible from the historic parts of the city and a popular place for foodies and port lovers alike!

This is because in 1862, the Portuguese government passed a law that meant all of the port wine companies from the surrounding Douro Valley region had to move their ageing cellars, storage and export processing to Vila Nova de Gaia. This allowed the government to clear space within the centre of Porto city, and made it easy for them to keep a closer eye on the popular port wine industry.

This law stayed in place until the 80’s but by this point Vila Nova de Gaia had become the heart of Port wine in Porto, which it remains to this day.

Fun fact: Did you know Vila Nova de Gaia is actually a city in its own right? But due to how close it is, many people consider it to still be part of Porto.

Where Are The Calem Port Wine Cellars in Porto

Once you cross the Luis I Bridge from the historic river front of Porto, you won’t have to walk far before you’re standing in front of the impressive Calem port wine cellars. They’re only about 100m along that road, and one of the first port wine cellars you’ll see in Vila Nova de Gaia.

Overview Of Calem Port Wine Tour In Porto, Portugal

Each time we’ve done a Calem port wine tour in Porto, we’ve booked ahead for the English-speaking tours and I highly recommend you do the same.

Due to being one of the most interactive port wine tours in Porto, it’s also one of the most visited so the Calem port tour tickets often sell out – especially during peak season. We’ve heard people being turned away, so I’d hate for you to miss out.

So what port wine tours do they offer at Calem? The answer is several!

Let’s begin with the port wine tasting experiences:

• Classic tour with 2 wine tastings
• Premium tour with 3 wine tastings
• Special tour with 3 wine tastings with chocolate pairing
• Special tour with 3 wine tastings with chocolate and cheese pairing

If you want to add a bit of Portuguese culture to your Calem port wine tour, we highly recommend the port wine tasting with Fado show which runs once a day at 6pm.

What is Fado? Fado is a traditional style of Portuguese (and Brazilian) music that dates back to the 1820’s, but many believe it has been around much longer. Traditionally the songs tell stories of heartbreak and longing for someone who has left, but more modern fado music is a bit more upbeat and focuses on positive or funny stories. Even with the language barrier and not knowing the words, the performance and music makes it easy to follow along and feel what they’re saying.

Here’s a quick outline of what happened on our Calem port wine tour:

• Guided tour of the interactive museum: To begin with we were guided through from the front desk for a guided tour of the interactive museum. This is where you learn about the growing and making process.

• Guided tour of the port caves: Here we were able to get up close to Port wine barrels that are going through various ageing processes. They explained a bit more about the history of Port, the Calem brand and Porto in general 

• Calem Port Wine Tasting & Fado Show: We ended the tour in an upstairs room with Port wine and Fado show.

Calem Port Wine Tour: The Museum

To kick off our Calem port wine tour in Porto, we were guided through the interactive museum by our English speaking guide. She walked us through the whole growing process including why the Douro Valley is so magical for Port grapes, how it’s harvested and how they make each different type of Port wine – I genuinely had no idea there were so many different types!

While some tour guides may allow you to wander around at your own pace for about 15 minutes, I personally enjoyed having a detailed story told to us instead. I often find that I skip over or don’t absorb information when I read it on boards. The only issue with this can be seeing the exhibits if you’re in a large group trying to huddle around the small-ish stands. Our guide handled this really well though.

Calem Port Wine Tour: The Port Cave

Who knew there were port caves in Porto? I didn’t! In all honesty, I didn’t know much about port wine, despite being a bar waitress for over a decade. Oops.

Anyway, after we’d spent some time learning about the origins of Calem’s port wine, we were led into these huge port caves, or port cellars. The size of some of the port barrels in this section of our tour was jaw-dropping. Although I’m not surprised, they do produce an unfathomable amount of port wine each season.

We walked through rows of barrels, all with different years marked on the side (maybe you’ll find the year you were born!) and learned about the ageing process and some of Porto’s history – like the year they had a huge flood and barrels of port from all of the cellars on this side of the river could be seen floating out to sea!

This section was easier to see/hear the guide because many people drifted off to take photos of the barrels. I managed to grab a couple as we walked in/out of the cellar.

Calem Port Wine Tour: The Port Tasting

This is the part where I admit that the port tours in Porto weren’t my idea. We initially only did it because my dad is a huge fan of port and visiting Porto has always been on his bucket list, so it was a no brainer when he came to stay! However, I really enjoyed it and surprisingly really liked the port tasting too!

We’ve done both the port tasting with fado show and the mini port tasting with 2 wines, both are handled similarly so here’s what you can expect:

With the port wine tasting with fado show, we were guided into a small upstairs room and shown which table we were seated at. Being a group of 4 already, we had a table to ourselves. If you’re visiting Porto as a couple or on your own, you may get seated with other people. 

With the basic port wine tasting with 2 wines, we were led into a large room with long tables where the whole group sat together, split into those who were having 2 wines, and those who were trying 3.

On both tours, we were then free to taste the wine while the staff told us a bit more about the wines that we were trying, what they go well with, the taste notes and other things you’d expect from a wine tasting (like how to taste it).

Calem Port Wine Tour: The Port Shop

This was probably my dads favourite part – port shopping! After the Calem port wine tour is over, you can walk around their little shop where they stock each type of wine they sell, a few vintages and chocolate! We never come away empty handed from Calem’s – their white port wine is just too good! 

If you still have a bit of travelling to do and aren’t keen on the idea of buying your port wine here, only to drag it around everywhere with you, you can buy Calem’s in shops around the country or, if you’re ending your Portugal trip in Porto, you can pop back and buy some before you leave!

Is The Calem Port Wine Tour Worth It?

Absolutely. The Calem port wine tour is a great choice if you’re short on time in the city but want to learn more about their iconic product and its history.

We’ve done several now and still want to go back to try the wine tasting with chocolate. Each time we’ve been with family they’ve really enjoyed it too, even those who aren’t really keen on port wine found it interesting.

Porto is world famous for its port, so skipping doing a port wine tour in Porto would be like visiting Rome without seeing the coliseum, or going to Egypt and not seeing the pyramids. 

Quick Facts About Port Wine In Porto

An interesting fact about Port wine is that all Port comes from Porto, very similar to Champagne, which can only be called as such if it comes from that region of France.

You may occasionally see ‘Port style wine’ produced in the States, France etc. but for it to be the real deal, it must have been produced here. Which means a Porto Wine tour in Porto offers an insight into some of the best Port in the world.

So there’s our complete guide on what to expect from your Calem port wine tour in Porto. We also have a guide on the best things to do in Porto in  a day to help you make the most of your time there!

Continue Reading;

• 2 Day Porto Itinerary
• How To Spend 24 Hours In Porto
• Lisbon To Porto Road Trip
• 17 Incredible Day Trips From Porto