We boarded the buses right after breakfast and our first stop in Favaios was the winery where they make moscatel and other wines. Moscatel is a sweet red wine which is similar to port – but it is cultivated at a higher elevation and cannot use the “port” designation.
Our tour began here where the grapes are received and the process of making the wine starts.
Machine used early in the process of wine making. Not sure exactly what it does, although we conjecture that it mooshes the grapes.
Filling barrels with partially fermented grape juice.
One of the winery’s pretty barrels.
Follow me. I know where the wine is.
Fermentation tanks.
Mural on the way to the cellars
The wine cellar with product displayed on a table. The larger barrels are for short-term aging, and the smaller barrels will be turned into vintage wines.
Our guide explains the product line.
All the men were snapping our guide’s picture, because they thought she was the prettiest lady in Portugal
Favaios products. The Favaios winery is a cooperative, so the grapes in these wines come from many vineyards.
From the winery, we took a short drive then walked through the town of Favaios in the rain to a bakery.
This school building was originally segregated into male and female wings. This was the entrance for boys. It is currently a post office.
We also passed a church with a cool bell tower.
We crowded into Dona Rosalia’s little bakery. She kept a dour expression on her face, until she saw our guide, her pet Nuno.
Dona Rosalia divided a large mass of dough into individual loaves which she weighed only in her hand. The loaves were amazingly uniform
Here the individual loaves are rising.
Dona Rosalie is pinching an individual loaf into its unique shape.
The finished product: four-corners bread. We got to taste some straight out of the oven. This style of bread is not unique to this bakery – it is baked at numerous establishments throughout the Faviaos region.
A rare smile from Dona Rosalia. In the background on the right are the sticks that fuel the wood-burning oven, with a pitchfork for transport.
William told Dona Rosalia, in Portuguese, that he is a baker also, so he got a hug.
Dona Rosalia’s son feeds fuel into the oven. He was grumpy too and admonished the tourists to give him room to work. Most of the bakeries in the region used traditional ovens like this, though some have modern ovens.
The bakery cat.
Dona Rosalia brushes flour off of Nuno’s jacket. It got on his jacket when she hugged him.
Following our visit with Dona Rosalia we walked in a downpour to Núcleo museológico Favaios, Pão e Vinho (the town museum of bread and wine). There we reviewed and learned more about what we had just seen.
A picture in the museum of wine being transported.
At harvest time the whole village participated in stomping the grapes. Really.
The story of the flavors of the earth in the Moscatel wine.
The twists and turns of four-cornered bread.
Our last stop in Favaios was at a banquet hall in a restaurant for a traditional lunch. Alas no four-corner bread was served.
We walked into the hall to find our dessert waiting for us.
Salads seemed to be rare in Portugal.
The sign for Enoteca da Quinta da Avessada in the banquet hall was pretty.
We were serenaded during lunch.
Soup was transferred from a cauldron to big serving bowls, and then finally to bowls on our tables.
The soup was the best part of the meal (except dessert).
Dessert finally arrived at our tables. It was all pretty good. The poached pear was amazing, and the chocolate cake was very good.
A fountain outside the banquet hall.
If the weather had been better, it would have been a perfect day.