Churchill’s lodge is a working one, in Gaia’s old customs zone and away from the riverside crowds. Expect forklifts and stacked barrels rather than a museum. Every tasting includes a guided lodge tour, so even the entry option is a proper visit of about an hour and a half.
The tastings
- Lodge Tour & Tasting, €25: Churchill’s LBV 2020.
- Essential Douro Wines, €40: a Grafite vertical of Red 2021, White 2025, Touriga Nacional 2019 and Grande Reserva 2017.
- Blind tasting, €40.
- Vintage Port evolution, €50.
- Aged Ports: bottle vs cask, €65, including the LBV 2020 and Crusted 2019.
- Quinta da Gricha, €65: Gricha 2023, Talhão 8 2019 and the Quinta da Gricha 2022 Vintage Port.
- Lodge Private Visit, €150, about two hours: blending a 20 Year Old Tawny.
- Two Decades of Ricardo: The Winemaker Selection, €200.
Which to pick
For learning, the €40 blind tasting and the €65 bottle vs cask tasting are the standouts. Tasting blind strips away the label, and the bottle vs cask tasting, with a Crusted and an LBV among its wines, is built to show how bottle ageing and cask ageing differ. If you have already done a big-name lodge, the €150 private visit, where you work on a 20 Year Old Tawny blend, is a genuinely different experience.
When to go
Churchill’s is open Monday to Saturday, 10:00 to 18:00, with the last visit at 17:00. Churchill’s 1982 Bar, a garden with river views, is open Friday to Sunday. The lodge is at Rua da Fonte Nova 5, Vila Nova de Gaia ([email protected]).
Canto Cooking is a commercial partner of Pinot Squirrel and we earn from bookings. Winery and lodge prices on this page come from each producer's own website.
Short on time?
Taste Sandeman, Graham's, Taylor's and Ferreira side by side in one hour, on the Porto side of the river.
Canto Cooking · 4.9 on Google and TripAdvisor
“Best of the Best” Port Tasting with Artisan Chocolates
Check dates & bookPrice checked 17 Sep 2026
