WORLD HERITAGE
ALTO DOURO WINE COUNTRY
"Douro is certainly the most serious reality we have."
Among Portuguese authors, Miguel Torga
is surely the one who best described the Douro River.
UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR
He also said, "Douro, with such small geography,
"is immeasurable evidence of the wonder of the world."
With this backdrop, on December 14, 2001,
the UNESCO World Heritage committee met in Helsinki
and resolved to declare the Alto Douro Vineyard
a World Heritage site, thus recognizing
this fantastic and immense landscape
created by nature and men,
which we find in this location.
Douro starts in Montes Cantábricos, municipality of Duruelo de la Sierra,
in the province of Soria.
It flows through 700 km from Spain to Portugal.
Once in Portuguese territory, it flows through another 200 km.
However, we could safely say its most extraordinary section
is at the Alto Douro Vineyard.
Nature shaped all these hills and valleys,
especially Douro Valley and the area surrounding its tributaries.
In this landscape, these hills contain slate minerals,
as well as some granite.
Despite the lack of detailed studies, since ancient times
winegrowing has been a tradition in these lands.
Consequently, hundreds of thousands of men and women
throughout generations
have broken through layers of mineral soil,
placing larger rocks on the edges,
to create thousands of kilometers of interconnected terraces
that resulted in such a mesmerizing view.
In the 1700s, when the wine started to be exported to England,
there was a decrease in quality.
Authorities had to intervene
in order to regulate the region.
Therefore, at the request of the good men
in the city of Porto, as well as wine merchants,
Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo decided to establish
the Douro Wine Company.
This constituted the first demarcated region
in the world, as we know it today.
Douro is evidently a rural scenario,
but we must not forget there is an urban aspect to it as well.
In addition to the City of Lamego,
there is another urban scenario here.
Lamego is not formally included
in Douro's bid for World Heritage Site.
Let's then see some elements of this local urbanization.
Behind me, you see the Lamego Church.
This building dates back to the early years of this nation.
Its facade elements indicate that
it was built in the 1200s through the 1700s.
It has noteworthy facade elements, including
interwoven details, a silver altar,
and the ceiling paintings by Nicolau Nasoni,
who made other artistic contributions to Lamego.
On the other hand, considering the Lamego Church,
let's reflect on the role of Catholicism,
more specifically the Order of Cistercians,
in expanding winegrowing activities,
which is essential to the wine classification process.
The vineyard and its wine are characteristic of this region.
Grapes turn into must, which then become wine.
That is akin to a rite of passage.
It is our privilege to stand here in these extraordinary winepresses,
whose dimensions and oval shape
are unparalleled in the world.
This is the appropriate moment to discuss the cycle of wine.
Grapevines are resilient plants.
They withstand unforgiving winters,
and scorching temperatures during summer.
This region is known for having nine months of winter
and three months of hell.
Since grapevines are so resilient,
they thrive in these stony grounds.
Few areas along the Douro River have actual soil.
Unlike in the past, there's more attention to detail in winemaking now:
separation of varieties, how grapes are stocked,
how they are transported in small boxes, in small quantities
from vineyards to winepresses.
In these winepresses, they are pressed by men.
This is where grapes become must.
The must produced in these winepresses
become the extraordinary wine
we get to enjoy at home, at restaurants,
at farms and wherever we drink it.
Since 1988,
producers are allowed to export directly
to foreign markets.
In the past,
the wine had to travel
a long journey between the production site
and the Porto warehouse
located between Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia.
That warehouse was believed to be the best resting place for the wine,
where it could age
and acquire its best characteristics.
The summer heat
and the harsh cold of the long winter in this production region
were not recommended for wine to age properly.
This recommendation was made
upon the creation of the Douro Wine Company
back in 1756, that is, more than 250 years ago.
That's why, in this region,
this wine was known as "fine wine", among other nicknames.
After aging in Porto,
because of the commercial expansion,
it became known as "Port Wine".
The difficult journey was made on rabelo boats.
Before the river was stabilized with the creation of dams,
which were built in the 1960s and 1970s,
the water level was a lot lower than what we see now,
and the water flow was much stronger.
It made for a rough ride.
At certain sections of the river,
rabelo boats had to
be tied to the margins of the river with thick ropes
so they could remain stable and be tugged
by groups of oxen.
This river is also the backdrop for several stories
that make up regional legends.
For example, upstream from where we are,
the Valeira Gorge used to indicate a natural border for the river
and for the region.
There used to be so many rocks there, but in the late 1700s
explosives were used to destroy them.
In this area, in the first half of the 19th century,
river navigation used to be so difficult that
a rabelo boat transporting
two regional celebrities,
businesswoman Antonia Adelaide Ferreira and Baron of Forrester,
was overturned at a certain point and the baron died.
The talk of the town then was that
the baron was pulled to the bottom of the river he loved so much,
which he had helped to conquer,
because his boots were so heavy with the coins he was carrying.
Ms. Ferreira survived because the skirt of her dress helped her float.
After the Douro River witnessed such intense activities in wine export,
it is now the stage for a completely different activity: Tourism.
The river is effectively at the center of tourism activity.
Besides boating, there are several other attractions.
There are week-long journeys from the mouth of the river
to the border with Spain.
These are comfortable trips, with stops at villages along the way.
These villages are ready to welcome tourists nowadays.
There are also farms that have been converted
into agritourism sites.
As we can see, the Douro River is our heritage, memory, and culture.
Beyond that, Douro is our future.
There are several movements
and efforts that are taking place
in the past few years.
That's how we know Douro has a bright future ahead.
That's why it was selected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
This wine cellar I'm at right now,
located at Farm Naples,
represents a large investment made recently
and indicates the utmost respect
for this region and territory.
Its modern construction
mimics the terraces along Douro
and fully integrates with the landscape.
Actually, as a resource,
the biggest names in architecture
have not only been attracted to the Douro region,
but also to other winegrowing areas worldwide.
Associating such modern discourse,
which the public is very favorable to,
thus combining architecture and wine
as two elements that are very "in" right now,
is an approach that has been working.
We can see it growing exponentially at Douro.
All the investments we have seen in this extraordinary region
allow us to state with much conviction
that we are witnessing the emergence of a new Douro.
This future is related to people who are willing to make investments,
especially younger people who are coming back to Douro.
We could say the region is being taken back
by the young people investing here,
who are bringing their great knowledge,
their education,
and a vision for the market.
I believe that's the difference between past and present.
These people are developing their market-oriented activities,
as opposed to older generations working in Douro,
who depended heavily on traders.
Another characteristic shown by these young people
is that they are guided by
extraordinary sustainability criteria.
They know they're investing in the future of this region,
as well as making an investment in themselves and their children.
They are aware that people must have a good living at Douro
in order to welcome tourists.
That is the bottom line.
In 2011, when UNESCO recognized this region
as a World Heritage Site,
we knew it wasn't only because of the landscape.
It was because of our potential to grow,
that is,
if locals weren't able to grow and carry on with their activities,
this region would die.
What we have witnessed is that
there are new restaurants and hotels, and the agritourism business
has become a reality.
The restaurants and hotels opened here
are among the best worldwide.
In conclusion, Douro offers unique attractions.
Why shouldn't people get ready
to visit the extraordinary Douro in the near future?
Subtitles: Babel Subtitling - babelSUB.be