During our 10-day road trip through Portugal, we wanted to stay overnight in the Douro Valley. We figured we needed more time to see and taste the Douro Valley than with a day trip from Porto. That’s why we drove to Pinhão and booked a stay at Quinta de la Rosa Pinhao. This family-owned vineyard is still fully functioning and offers amazing rooms for rent. Although I researched where to stay in Pinhão, here are 12 things I wish I knew before we slept at the Quinta de la Rosa.
Are you looking for a place to stay in the Douro Valley? Do you have your eye set on the Quinta de la Rosa in Pinhão for wine tasting and a vineyard tour? Not sure if you should book it? Here are some things that help you decide.
I was not paid nor endorsed to write about this vineyard stay in the Douro Valley. I paid for our hotel room, wine tasting and all the other features mentioned in this post by myself. As always, all opinions are my own.
This post does contain affiliate links. If you decide to make a purchase via one of my links, I earn a commission. This will not cost you anything extra.
You can climb the hills and walk through the vineyard
I had no idea what to expect of a fully functioning vineyard. But as it turned out, the Quinta de la Rosa is first and foremost a business. The company produces port and wines and a whole range of other products. As a quest of the Quinta de la Rosa, you’re invited to walk the premises.
The vineyard consists of numerous hills and terraces. The oldest ones are worth a visit. So bring your walking shoes and take a stroll around the vineyard.
Quinta de la Rosa offers on-site wine tasting tours
We didn’t really know what time we would arrive and if there would be any options left to do a wine tasting tour. But we were very lucky as it wasn’t busy.
The Quinta de la Rosa offers all kinds of wine tasting tours for their guests. We opted for a tour of the Quinta and some wine tasting of the Quinta de la Rosa wines, which were divine!
If you don’t want to luck out, I recommend booking your wine tasting tour ahead as this is a must-do at the Quinta de la Rosa.
The wine tasting comes with food too
You don’t have to drink on an empty stomach as the Quinta de la Rosa has an on-site restaurant and you can have a wine tasting that is paired with food too. The best of both worlds if you ask me.
As we were looking forward to dinner in town, we only had the wine but if you’re peckish, opt-in for the wine tour with Portuguese tapas.
The Quinta offers a whole range of on-site tasting tours of local produce
I didn’t know the Quinta de la Rosa was so diverse. Other than port wine and wine (red and white), the Quinta offers a whole range of other products like olive oil tasting and vinegar tasting. They have a whole array of options, so feel free to ask.
Quinta de la Rosa is located out of town
I did look on the map but didn’t realize the Quinta de la Rosa is outside of Pinhão town. As it was raining most of our stay, we did take the car to go to town for dinner.
This was a bit of a pickle because at the Quinta de la Rosa you’re surrounded by great quality wines but you can’t drive after drink.
Make sure you get a taxi if you’ve been tasting all their wines and still need to get back to Pinhão.
You can book dinner at the Quinta de la Rosa too
I didn’t realize we didn’t actually have to leave the Quinta de la Rosa during our stay at the Douro Valley. They even have a restaurant on-site and the Quinta offers their guests special menus to choose from.
As the stay at the Quinta de la Rosa was already a bit out of my normal budget (I wanted to splurge for 1 night), we opted for dinner in Pinhão instead. But if breakfast is any indication for their dinner, I’m sure it is a real treat!
We had the best experience in Pinhão eating at LBV 79. Yes, the waiter is painstakingly slow but the tournedos with pomegranate seeds was the best dish we ever had!
The breakfast at Quinta de la Rosa is to die for
I was absolutely blown away by the breakfast option at the Quinta de la Rosa. We stuffed our faces with fresh croissants and pastries, indulged in homemade jams and local hams.
We enjoyed the morning sun pouring into the restaurant. The only downside was, you’d had to pay extra to get eggs (boiled, fried, scrambled). In my opinion, such an outstanding establishment should include this.
It offers some of the best views of Pinhão
Because the Quinta de la Rosa is located outside of Pinhão, it offers spectacular views of Pinhão.
This little town at the banks of the Douro Valley is located in a bend in the Douro river. From the Quinta de la Rosa you’ll have sweeping views on the river, the hills filled with vineyards and lovely Pinhão.
Wall to wall windows in the reception and wine tasting room and the outside terrace at the restaurant all accentuate and frame this amazing view.
The rooms have a bathtub
I didn’t really realize this but even the standard rooms at the Quinta de la Rosa are pretty posh and the bathtub was just to begging for me to dip my toe in.
I have a thing for cute bathtubs with little legs and the bath at the Quinta de la Rosa is like heaven!
Make sure to allocate some bathing time! I was already too tipsy tired at night and fell asleep immediately.
The Quinta de la Rosa has an outdoor pool
Imagine the hot Portuguese summer, what better way to cool off than a dip in the pool? The Quinta de la Rosa has a cute little outdoor pool that is just begging for you to get straight in.
I wish I brought my swimwear (and that it didn’t rain when we were in Portugal) so I could have tested the waters at the Quinta de la Rosa!
The prices for Port and Porto Wine are really affordable
Right before we checked in to the Quinta de la Rosa, we bought some wine to enjoy for the rest of our stay.
In Porto, we bought some port wine as a souvenir to bring home with us.
If I’d known that the wines at the Quinta de la Rosa were much cheaper than in Porto, we wouldn’t have stocked up that much.
With only €2 per glass per tasting and some really affordable wines (even in the minibar), it was hard to only take a small bottle of Reserve to enjoy. Make sure you buy some wine at the Quinta da la Rosa as it comes straight from the source and is much cheaper than in Porto (and in stores).
We should have stayed longer
It might have taken only 5 minutes after check-in to realize we should have stayed longer at Quinta de la Rosa. We only spend 1 night at the Quinta and it was heaven.
The room was luxurious but homey, the sights of the Douro Valley at the vineyard were amazing and I wanted to do all the wine tastings on offer.
Unfortunately, we only had 1 night and had to make the best of it. I’d love to return one day during grape harvest season or right before that, to experience the Quinta full of life and produce!
Quinta de la Rosa Pinhao
The Quinta de la Rosa offers several rooms for rent. They have the double and twin rooms and all the rooms have a view of the river. If you book the superior room, you’ll stay right down below at the river.
All rooms come with breakfast included so savor it! Ready to book your stay at Quinta de la Rosa Pinhao?
Check for prices and availability here.
All in all, we really enjoyed our stay at the Quinta de la Rosa Pinhao in the Douro Valley. It was a luxurious splurge but a good one and I don’t regret staying at the Quinta.
If only I knew these 12 things before our stay, we would have enjoyed it even more! I’m sure you’re well prepared now and can enjoy your vineyard stay in Pinhão at the Quinta de la Rosa.
Do you plan to visit Pinhão? Would you stay at the Quinta de la Rosa? Or go for a tour of the vineyard and wine tasting? Please share it in the comment section below. Or share the below images to your Pinterest.
Sounds like a wonderful vacation spot… that has a lot to offer!