Chapter 1993： River valley beauty

The Douro Valley in Porto, Portugal and the Italian Barolo vineyards, the Greek Santorini vineyards, the Italian Cinque Terre vineyards, and the French Golden Hills vineyards are known as the most beautiful, charming and spectacular 5 in the world. Vineyards.

The Douro Valley is a World Heritage Site. Many large vineyards were formed in the 18th century. The soil is mostly shale and is located on a hillside about 700 meters above sea level.

These endless hills are connected with the soft river, the large vineyards with colorful geometric shapes, and the various manors have become the stage to show the Douro River, constituting the unique scenery in the world.

Here, 40,000 hectares of land has been designated as a first-class grape growing area.

Its winemaking history has been 2000 years. The diverse soils and unique grape varieties all mean that great wines can be produced here. Among them, Port wine is the most famous.

In the 2014 wine list, 3 of the top 4 are produced in the Douro Valley.

Today, the Douro Valley has become the home of many high-quality red and white wines, which has made the Douro River more and more popular around the world.

When Yang Cheng came to the valley with the team led by the housekeeper of the Six Senses, it must be said that the Douro Valley region of Portugal not only produces wine, but also has the most beautiful scenery in the world.

Fortunately, in the next week, in addition to inspecting the details of all aspects of the Six Senses Hotel, Yang Cheng can also visit the vineyards to not only taste the freshly baked wine, but also enjoy the most magnificent natural scenery. , Numerous wine estates and other historical sites.

Yang Cheng couldn't help but began to look forward to it.

This time, the person who booked the hotel was Liu Junyu, so Yang Cheng kept a low-key style throughout the whole journey. He didn't talk much in the car from beginning to end, but Liu Junyu kept asking the old housekeeper who looked a bit like the famous star Figo about the situation. She The question was very detailed, and this was also to facilitate Yang Cheng to understand.

However, Yang Cheng focused more on the scenery on both sides of the road. This is a very wonderful place. On the way to the hotel, the vineyards on both sides of the Douro River make people feel as if they are at the end of the world. , So incredibly dangerous.

The landscape and wine style here will have a magical power to make wine lovers revisit the old place like a pilgrimage, with endless aftertastes.

The vineyards of the Douro River connected by the mountains are backed by the mountains. The colorful geometric shapes, the wide view, and the beautiful scenery. If you can lean on the wooden chairs of the vineyards, you can taste wine, chat, and appreciate the natural scenery. You are so good!

The housekeeper just said that after moving in, guests can enjoy a forest bath, receive a healthy sleep plan, tree climbing, rafting, and composting under the guidance of medical professionals.

These do not sound like typical vacation life in the wine country. In Yang Cheng's mind, some vacation life may be visiting wineries, tasting wine, relaxing by the pool, or enjoying grape seed oil spa services, if you are adventurous , Maybe you can hike through the vineyards.

However, what Six Senses provides is obviously not these ordinary experiences.

It seems that slow life is no longer enough to reflect their ideas. They began to transform to reality and started a healthy hedonistic business model.

This is the case with Six Senses’ hotel in the Douro Valley, Portugal. This is the first hotel they opened in the Western Hemisphere. This hotel was originally built as a family mansion in the 18th century. At that time, a writer wrote that this manor is not so much The residence is more like a palace. “The sky is the roof, and the Douro River flowing under your feet is your company.” Originally named Abraham Winery, it has been operated as an independent hotel for the past six or seven years.

After being closed for a few months, this hotel was completely renovated, completely changed its business philosophy, and was renamed as Six Senses Douro Valley Hotel. After the reopening, it was very popular. Liu Junyu also booked the room through Six Senses’ partners. , Otherwise the normal schedule will be 2 months later.

The hotel has 57 spacious guest rooms with attractive decoration materials. The cleverly separated bathrooms are made of gray Portuguese limestone. There is a couch next to the desk. The rooms have private terraces and large glass windows.

Many rooms have stunning views of the Douro River. The special natural mattress in the room is made of sustainable latex and organic lamb wool, giving guests a luxurious sleeping experience.

Many other spaces, such as the wine library and the stylish farmhouse-style restaurant, maintain the same style as the spa, with soft main colors, low-key luxurious materials and plenty of natural light.

The most proud of this hotel is the spa. It covers a huge area of ​​about 22,000 square feet. It has an indoor swimming pool, a luxurious spa area with waterfall sound effects and ten treatment rooms. All spaces overlook the secret garden. The scenery is also equipped with a team of top physiotherapists, yoga instructors and other health professionals.

The forest bath mentioned by the housekeeper also belongs to the service scope of this spa. This is the health tradition of RB. The forest bath here includes walking into the surrounding forest for a short walk, then entering the cocoon-shaped hut, and meditating under the guidance of a dedicated person.

This hotel has been a pioneer in the tourism industry of the Douro Valley for many years. Because of the existence of this hotel, the local tourism industry has experienced a blowout development in the past few years, and it has always maintained close ties with the neighboring areas.

The newly launched adventure activities include private cruises. Guests can take the "Friendship", an exquisite old-fashioned wooden cruise ship in the 1950s style of the Pipaduro Company, to visit top wineries that only accept reservations, such as the famous De Maria According to the butler, the owner of this winery happens to be the public relations director of Six Senses Douro Valley. You can also enjoy a leisurely waterside lunch at the DOC restaurant headed by the famous Portuguese chef Rui Paola.

However, this hotel will not give you much motivation to eat out. The decoration of the hotel restaurant is very attractive. The ceiling is primitive and rustic oak beams, and the eye-catching lighting system is reminiscent of fishing nets. The communal dining table and huge fireplace.

The menu is rich in variety, from small plates to large plates of Portuguese specialties-spicy sausages baked on an antique wooden oven, and so on.

Most of the ingredients come from the hotel’s own organic vegetable garden, which is where the composting course is open to guests. It’s peculiar to think about it. He spends a lot of money on farm work. From another perspective, Six Senses really developed the benefits to the extreme. .

As for the wine, before dinner, you can sit around a candlelight table in the delightful wine cellar and taste the wine made by the local winery, and there is a winemaker dinner every week.

The tastes of these wines are diverse and interesting, but one thing is for sure: these wine tastings and dinners will end with the famous locally produced Bordeaux wines. This long tradition cannot be shaken even by innovative companies like Six Senses.

The butler took Liu Junyu and Yang Orange to visit the hotel, and then arranged a suite on the top floor of the castle. From the balcony here, you can see the exquisite and romantic view of the Douro Valley.

The calm river surface is like a blue silk ribbon, gently draped between the green mountains.

Yang Cheng stood on the balcony, squinting slightly, breathing in the fresh air that seemed to have a strong aroma of wine and grape fruit, and finally opened his eyes, "This scenery is really good. Why didn't Amman find it here?"

Standing behind him, Liu Junyu leaned on the door frame, tilting his head and said, "Actually, the scenery here is not the ultimate, but combined with the endless vineyards, it has a different flavor."

Yang Cheng slapped these words carefully, and nodded after a long while, "What you said makes sense~"

After a pause, he turned around and smiled rather ambiguously, "I will experience the spa in a while? That housekeeper is almost finished~"

Liu Junyu is also a woman. He didn’t know much about family conditions before, but after having been with Yang Cheng for so long, he has eaten many of them. He pays more attention to the maintenance of his face and figure. Skin is naturally the top priority. , So the spa must be visited, "I have made an appointment, in two hours."

Yang Cheng nodded, Liu Junyu's work ability is getting better and better. She thought of many things first, but Yang Cheng hadn't considered it yet.

"Then eat first and taste the authentic Portuguese food~"

However, as soon as they left the house, the butler greeted him and leaned respectfully, "Please forgive me Mr. Yang, I didn't recognize you in the first time~"

After Yang Cheng froze, she was helpless. Originally, she wanted to disguise and investigate, but she didn't expect to recognize it. Since then, she stopped pretending, "It's nothing, can you help us book a restaurant?"

The butler hadn’t had time to say the welcome speech that the housekeeper had originally planned to say. UU read and immediately said, “Okay, no reservation is needed. The kitchen is on duty 24 hours a day. Now our chef Rui Paola is on duty.”

"Best~"

"Would you like to go to the wine cellar to choose wine?"

Yang Cheng doesn’t know much about the wines of Porto, so she waved her hand casually, "No, you can choose for me~"

"No problem~"

Although Portuguese cuisine is not as well-known as Spanish, French, and Italian cuisine in Europe, it is definitely incomparable to British cuisine. "The land ends here, the sea starts from Sri Lanka." The stone monument writing this line of poetry was erected in Portugal. The cliffs of Cape Cao indicate the special geographical location of this country, but also the characteristics of Portuguese cuisine.

The westernmost country of the European continent has only one neighbor, Spain, and the other sides face the Atlantic Ocean. In such a geographical environment, the Portuguese may be the people who eat the most fish in the world.

In Europe, perhaps only Icelanders eat more fish than Portuguese.

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