Better With Age

Aged 20 years, Port, Villar D’Allen, Porto, Portugal

We tasted a 20-year-old tawny port during the tour of  Quinta de Vilar D`Allen near Porto, Portugal. The Villar d’Allen Manor has belonged to the Allen family since 1839, when John Allen, an English businessman, bought it in a public auction. The 18th and 19th century house and gardens harken back to romanticism and grandeur. A series of formal gardens are full of flowers, especially camelias, many very old varieties. The Allen family provides guided tours to the House and Gardens and wine tasting. Mr. Allen blends and bottles his own port. The property, one of the few surviving leisure manors that surrounded the city of Porto in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, was designated a Building of Public Interest in 2010. The Allen’s are gracious and welcoming hosts, very proud of their heritage and their gardens.

Gardens, Villar d’ Allen, Porto, Portugal

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