Espaço Porto Cruz

The Porto Cruz Space is a project to celebrate the culture of Port wine by associating modernity to tradition.

It is a place for information, exhibition, and leisure that offers new experiences around the port wine, combining it with artistic creations in fields as diverse as fashion, art, and gastronomy.

Together with the permanent content, a seasonal programme promotes the artistic and cultural offerings in this space, where one must live the wine.

Facing Porto and the River Douro, this building occupies a privileged area of the Gaia riverfront.

A meeting point for traders and fishermen since medieval times, it was here they crossed the river to sell the products from the Upper Douro.

The origins of this building, restored in 1881, date back to the 18th century and the expansion of the Port wine trade.

Its restoration in 2012 to install the Porto Cruz Space inspired on the “Woman in Black”, seeks to match tradition and modernity, memory and future and pay tribute to Portuguese culture through its artists.

Commercial area where the range of wines of the PORTO CRUZ brand is available to the public, complemented by objects associated with the consumption of wine and the Porto Cruz Space. Thematic bibliography associated with port wine and the Douro is also available.

Here you can freely view four short films that make the PORTO CRUZ brand and its concepts known, the moments to drink the wine, the quay of Gaia in the 1930s and a thematic temporary exhibition.

This is a permanent exhibition area where you can view three short films that reflect fundamental aspects of the region where port wine is produced and its founding figures.

In this audiovisual resource, the steps of the wine production process are treated in a simple and intuitive manner, allowing you to follow the cycle of the vineyard, from grape to the glass. A plane trip from the Douro region to Porto and Gaia is also suggested and a film with six questions about port wine which, from a differentiated and appealing approach, gives details of the history of the region and its wine.

The space also has information on the schist soil, the element that shapes the region and its wines, having available a sample of this stone so that you can feel its texture and density. The terroir of port wine is also interpreted in a facility designed by the architect Alvaro Siza Vieira.
Taste the port wine with all your senses, test and stimulate the mind, try new aromas.

The room is next to the Auditorium, equipped with tasting table to challenge the senses in the discovery of the aromas, flavours, and colours of the wine. Through a multisensory tasting, which combines pleasure in discovery and knowledge, you will be able to take the experience of tasting the wine a step further.

The tasting, of different durations and complexity, is guided by a professional Sommelier together with a multitouch screen, which will illustrate more expressively the explanations given on the secrets of wine.

There are permanent elements by the sculptor Carlos Barreira that interpret the materials associated with the wine.

DeCastro Gaia is a space for tasting and harmonization of Portuguese wines and appetizers, under the guidance of the renowned Chef Miguel Castro Silva. The cuisine here embraces the concept of innovation and modernity of the Porto Cruz Space project, challenging visitors to new experiences that test the palate in an informal, yet refined, setting. Sharing meals with family or friends allows for a wider and richer tasting experience. An irreverent gastronomic proposal, which unites the Porto Cruz wines to the culture of Portuguese food.

Crowning the building, this area ends the visit and discovery of the Porto Cruz Space. Here the senses are tested by a visual experience that unites the Douro and the Porto and Gaia riverfronts. At the bar, guided by Paul Ramos, of the Cocktail Academy, you can enjoy the view whilst trying innovative ways to taste the Port wine, depending on the environment, time of day or your mood.