The Cachão da Valeira: the gorge that opened the Douro Superior

Until the end of the 18th century, the Cachão da Valeira blocked the Douro river like a waterfall, preventing boats from moving upstream to the east. With no passage, there was no trade to the interior — and therefore no way to move wine produced further east.

Opening the river with dynamite

The wall of rock had to be dynamited to open a passage. Only then did the river become navigable to the east — and, in practice, it was that act that made possible the existence of trade, and later of viticulture, in the Douro Superior.

The rabelo boats

Before roads and the railway, wine came down the Douro in rabelo boats — flat-bottomed, keel-less, steered by a large rudder-oar. They fared badly in the rapids, and the Cachão da Valeira was, for a long time, the most feared stretch of the river.

With the door open, the Douro Superior could finally enter the map of wine. And it is that idea — of a gateway — that Palato do Côa takes up in its entry wine, the Vinhas do Côa: the gateway to the Douro Superior inside the glass.