The Douro River Valley

The Douro River Valley

Before we went to the Douro River Valley in Portugal with Viking River Cruises this is what we knew about the area; it’s pretty and there are a lot of wineries.
We were right.
But Viking has this insidious way of actually teaching you all kinds of stuff while you think all you’re doing is having fun. (Could someone please put them in charge of the educational system in the U.S.?)
Now that we have this knowledge we feel a need to share it because it’s actually interesting.

What are the  interesting things about the Douro River Valley?

#1  The Region has UNESCO World Heritage Status
The Alto Douro region is on UNESCO‘s World Heritage list as one of the oldest demarcated wine growing regions in the world.

• The primary product, port wine, has long been world  famous for its quality.
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• The cultural landscape is of a traditional European wine-producing region and shows the evolution of this human activity over time.
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• The components of the landscape represent the full range of activities associated with winemaking – terraces, quintas (wine-producing farm complexes), villages, chapels, and roads.PHYLLOXERA, small, sap-eating, greenish insect of the genus Phylloxera, closely related to the aphid . 
• Phylloxeras feed on leaves and roots, and many species produce galls on deciduous trees. Their life cycle is complex; one species is known to pass through 21 different stages. Most notorious of the group is the grape phylloxera, Phylloxera vitifoliae, native to E North America. The species has winged and wingless generations, the former causing galls on grape leaves and the latter feeding on the roots, causing nodules and eventually killing the vine. The grape phylloxera came close to destroying the wine industry of France after its accidental introduction in about 1860; grafting of susceptible European vines onto resistant North American root stock saved the European vineyards. Phylloxeras are classified in the phylum Arthropoda , class Insecta, order Homoptera, family Phylloxeridae. 
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