Today we sailed on the Douro making a stop for a walk through a winery and a wine tasting. 

The winery is on a family estate with gardens, which we were allowed to tour. 

They had multiple peacocks. They currently do not have their tail feathers as it is after the mating season. 

One of the vineyards. The closest vines on the right are trained to be elevated so the grapes are picked from overhead. This is a local traditional method and allows for other crops to be grown below, but is not economical in large volume grape production and is not used often now. 

Another peacock

This winery also produces brandy.

This is a cork oak tree. Portugal is a major producer of cork. The cork is a part of the bark of the tree. It takes about 25 years for a tree to make enough initial cork. The bark is carefully peeled off of the tree, the tree is marked with the year it was done, and then the tree is left to make more cork, which takes about another 10 years before it can be harvested again. 

This cork oak tree is not mature enough to be harvested.

scenery along the Douro

We went through the Carrapatelo Lock. At 115 ft lift it is the tallest lock in Europe. It took nearly an hour to transit through. (There was a ship in there from the other direction when we arrived and we had to wait a little for them.)

The lock on the left and the damn on the right.

Inside the lock.