Quinta da Gricha

Qunita da Gricha is a nice place with large rooms, breath-taking views, one staff member working in the reception, as waiter, serving breakfast and dinner…-Luis. Immediately after making the reservation at Quinta da Gricha, I received an e-mail explaining that they do not have a restaurant, and they are far from “civilization”, they offered to pre-order dinner from a well know chef. I made the selection for me and for my wife… After driving 30-40 minutes in small roads, we arrived finally at the Quinta da Gricha, Luis greeted us and showed us to our room as well the facilities of the Quinta. The place in beautiful, really secluded, with wonderful views of vines, the Douro valley and river. When dinner arrived, we were served, presumably, what we pre-ordered… Luis, who, as I said before, runs the place, made a mistake and ordered the wrong dishes!! Things got even worst when we tasted the food….IT WAS AWFULL. Also breakfast was very poor! So, if you plan to come to Quinta da Gricha, bring your own dinner. To be fair, I must mention that Luis did not charge for my dinner, but we remained hungry! Bed was OK, shower is good (nice flow of water), the sink is extremely uncomfortable, no towels to put on the floor when you shower…. If you are looking for as special place and ARE ON A STRICT DIET…. THIS IS THE PALCE FOR YOU! I suggest that LUIS spends one night inb one of the Grichas’ rooms so he can experience all the faults. DOES NOT WORTH THE DRIVE NOR THE PRICE. SORRY LUIS!

So Worth It!! Breathtaking!!! Can’t thank enough Luis for his amazing care, him and Sra Cristina made us feel at home from the beginning till the end. We needed extra days there :))

Such a beautiful and peaceful place to stay. I fell in love with the authenticity and character of the place. The pool area the garden are amazing and the room was comfortable and suitable for the whole atmosphere. We had two lovely dinners (they served great dinner option for vegetarians), wine tasting, wine tour and of course great breakfasts. The place was intimate and romantic, and the location is stunning.

My wife and I were most impressed with our tour/tasting guide, Yue, who was extremely knowledgeble, professional, and friendly. Quinta da Gricha's location is down-river and up-the-mountain from the tourist trails and as such provides a unique and personal experience that we highly recommnend. Yue gave an informative history of Douro wine and wine/port making- including the traditional granite treading tanks dating back to the 1850s- and provided us with tastings of some of the best ports of the Douro. We selected two of Churchill’s Port tastings - arguably some of the best port tastings we have ever experienced. 1)Classic Port Churchill’s Reserve Port Churchill’s Dry White Port Churchill’s 10 Year Old Tawny Port 2) Winemakers’ Selection: Churchill’s 20 Year Old Tawny Port Churchill’s LBV Port Churchill’s Quinta da Gricha Vintage Port

What an amazing trip that we told all our friends about! The views were breathtaking and some of the best either of us have ever seen. All of the wines we tried were excellent! The rooms are extremely spacious and charming. We had a window view in our room of the valley below. The infinity pool was so nice and we just sat there and stared at the view. It was an experience like no other. The food we had was very good. I have seen others complain that this food is not worth the price - maybe it is a tad expensive, but it really brought home the ambiance and experience of the hotel. Also, despite what people say - you are not a prisoner at the hotel and you are of course free to leave to go get dinner in town, which other guests during our stay did. Finally, the subject of many complaints - the road to get there. For what it’s worth, my wife, who hasn’t driven stick shift in many years drove down this road (I can’t drive a stick shift at all :)) . Maybe we are just brave. But as long as you are careful, there is no reason to act like this road is crumbling beneath you. Plenty of people drive this road daily, and we even saw trucks leaving some places and driving on it. I do believe they should warn people that it is a narrow road, but there are also taxis that will drop you off at the hotel if necessary. If you want a very relaxing experience and breathtaking views, I recommend a few nights at Quinta de Griche.

Enjoy the remoteness of this winery . The staff are considerate and helpful . The two main draw backs are the 2.5 km private road leading up to the winery . Unless you are a confident and competent driver, reconsider your stay . Also, you must have supper at the winery, because it’s too far and treacherous to drive back to town . The meal is very mediocre, priced way above local restaurant prices . Other than that, the views and atmosphere are wonderful .