KCR Winter 2025 2026 Mag V3 FINAL - Flipbook - Page 88
The World of Wine:
Porto’s New Cultural Heartbeat
Perched above the Douro River in Vila Nova de Gaia, facing the historic
centre of Porto, lies one of Portugal’s most ambitious cultural undertakings - the World of Wine, a昀昀ectionately known as WOW. It opened in
2020 and has quickly become a must-see destination, not just for wine
lovers but for anyone curious about what makes Portugal tick.
For centuries, the hillside of Vila Nova de Gaia was home to the great
port wine lodges. Here, after 昀氀oating down the Douro from the vineyards of the interior, barrels of ruby and tawny port matured in dark,
cool warehouses. Those have now been beautifully restored and form
a maze of brick, steel, and glass in a space where old meets new. The
hillside location, with stunning views of the Douro, encompasses seven
separate museums and around a dozen restaurants and bars.
people-watching. Angel’s Share serves cocktails and port tonics with one
of the best sunset views in Europe.
World of Wine is many things: a museum, a playground, a culinary
stage, a love letter to Portuguese culture. But above all, it’s a reminder
that history isn’t something to preserve behind glass - it’s something
to taste, to share, to keep alive with every toast. And as dusk deepens,
there’s nowhere better to embrace Porto’s skyline of church towers,
bridges, and terracotta rooftops as they glow in tones of gold and violet.
www.wow.pt
Rupert Parker
The Wine Experience is WOW’s centrepiece - a museum, classroom, and
sensory playground in one. It’s doesn’t just focus on port, but explores
the full diversity of Portuguese wine regions, from the green valleys of
Minho to the sun-baked plains of Alentejo. Innovative interactive displays explain climate, soil, grapes and winemaking techniques.
You’re able to sni昀昀 aromatic capsules to test your nose, compare 昀氀avour
pro昀椀les on digital touchscreens and step into immersive projection
rooms that recreate typical vineyard landscapes. The experience
culminates in a guided tasting where Portugal’s unique grape varieties,
including Touriga Nacional, and Alvarinho, come alive in the glass. The
Wine Experience is not only for beginners, keen to learn the basics, but
also for a昀椀cionados polishing their Portuguese wine lore.
If the Wine Experience is the scholar of the family, The Pink Palace
is its mischievous sibling - a rosé-themed fantasy that has become an
Instagram favourite. Here, serious wine education takes a back seat to
immersive fun: think of swimming among pink plastic balls or posing
in a bathtub of faux bubbles. Eleven uniquely themed rooms are each
designed to enhance your understanding of Rosé with 昀椀ve di昀昀erent
tastings along the way.
Another of WOW’s treasures is The Chocolate Story, a museum but also
a small working factory. The exhibition traces the journey of cacao from
tropical plantations to the confectionery shelves of Europe. You get to
see and smell raw cacao pods, watch roasting machines and experience
the meticulous process of tempering chocolate.
The air is thick with the scent of cocoa, and tasting stations let you
explore how the bean’s di昀昀erent origins, from Ghana to Ecuador, a昀昀ect
昀氀avour and texture. The tour ends at the Vinte Chocolate Café where
you can indulge in a guided port and single origin chocolate tasting. The
combination works remarkably well and is certainly a new experience
for me.
Beyond the headline attractions, WOW’s smaller museums are quietly
fascinating.
Planet Cork shines a spotlight on Portugal’s unsung hero, cork, exploring its role in sustainability, design, and architecture. And Porto Region
Across the Ages tells the city’s story through multimedia displays. It’s
a living portrait of merchants, artisans, and dreamers who shaped this
riverside metropolis.
But perhaps my favourite is The Art of Drinking which includes more
than 2,500 artefacts from The Bridge Collection. It’s an intimate, luminous journey through 9,000 years of drinking culture, from the 昀椀rst clay
cup to the crystal chalices of European royalty. The galleries 昀氀ow chronologically, each era unfolding with gentle drama. Ancient Mesopotamian
pottery gives way to Greek kylixes, Islamic glass, Renaissance crystal,
and English beer tankards.
These museums make for hungry and thirsty work and WOW answers
those demands with its bars and restaurants. The 1828 Steakhouse
o昀昀ers prime cuts paired with Douro reds in a sleek, candlelit setting.
Root & Vine celebrates plant-forward Portuguese cuisine, turning local
produce into colourful, seasonal art. VP is the go-to for casual bites and
KENSINGTON & CHELSEA REVIEW
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