September smells of crushed grapes in Portugal's Douro Valley, and the region's winemakers are once again pulling visitors into the action — buckets, clippers and straw hats included.
The valley, named International Wine Region of the Year 2025 by Wine Enthusiast, kicked off this year's harvest one to two weeks earlier than usual, a shift winemakers link to increasingly intense heat waves speeding up ripening. The good news for producers: output is forecast to jump around 25% on last season, topping out at roughly 1.4 million hectolitres according to Portugal's wine institute, the IVV. More wine, in other words, and plenty of it to taste.
The most characterful way in is by rail. State operator CP runs a one-day harvest special departing Porto's Campanhã station shortly after 8am, with two remaining dates this month on 19 and 26 September. The train stops at Pinhão, where coaches shuttle participants to Quinta da Avessada in Favaios. After regional bread and savoury pastries, guests harvest grapes themselves, learn about local varieties, then sit down to a regional lunch before the highlight: treading grapes in the traditional stone lagares, folk-style. A guided fortified wine tasting rounds it off, with the return train leaving from Régua. Adults pay from €86 in second class or €93 in first.
If you'd rather stay on the water, operators run one- and two-day river programmes along the Douro's terraced banks, combining Pinhão cruises with estate visits, tastings and grape treading to traditional songs — the two-day version includes boutique hotel accommodation. For the full immersion, the river-cruise hotel Douro Serenity offers three- or five-day itineraries (from €495 to €800 per adult) that also visit Quinta da Avessada, with optional extras like the Raposeira sparkling wine cellars, the Foz Côa prehistoric rock art sites and the hilltop village of Castelo Rodrigo.
Prefer to sleep among the vines? The Ventozelo Hotel & Quinta in Ervedosa do Douro — one of the region's largest and oldest estates — has 29 rooms across seven buildings, including converted wine vats and old barns, from €180 to €2,950 a night. In Peso da Régua, the five-star Torel Quinta da Vacaria (estates here date to 1616) sells a €180 harvest experience covering the winery tour, a harvest-themed dinner at Fumus and grape treading; it also has vinotherapy treatments and the Michelin-starred restaurant Schistó. Meanwhile Quinta Nova de Nossa Senhora do Carmo, a Relais & Châteaux property in Covas do Douro, offers a €290 day joining the picking crew, with two tastings and lunch at Terraçu's.
For travellers, the appeal is straightforward: this is one of the few wine regions where you can physically make part of your own glass — cutting, treading and tasting in a single day — with stunning river scenery thrown in. Book fast, though: the earlier harvest means September dates fill quickly.