CASA DO VALLE

  Colares Wines are unique for various reasons:     They are some of the oldest wines in Portugal, dating back to year 1255 A large part of the vines grow deep in sand dunes – a detail that protected them from the 1865 phylloxera plague  They get their special taste from the harsh coastal climate (westernmost vineyards of continental Europe) And most recently: the world famous chef Gordon Ramsay just featured the Colares Wines in the National Geographic program Uncharted, calling the wine ‘one of the best kept secrets of Portugal' (Watch the trailer here ) ! Colares wines are some of the oldest wines in Portugal The Colares wine region is the smallest demarcated wine region of Portugal (DOC Colares).  The wine culture goes back to 1255 when king D Afonso lll ordered wine to be planted.  Supposedly the Ramisco vines came from northern France, Boulogne region, where the king had previously lived.  A large part of the Colares vines are grown in the sand ...

Two days ago I received a mail from the BedandBreakfast.com offices to inform us that Casa do Valle had been awarded the Best of Portugal Award ! We had been selected based upon 'excellent reviews posted by your guests during the past year'. The BedandBreakfast.com Awards are based on both qualitative and quantitative analysis. So I thank You - all of you who have written a review for us! And please, keep writing! The same day I noticed that we had jumped to 1st place again on TripAdvisor in the category of Bed and Breakfasts of Sintra. Seen that we are still quite young in the business, that was extremely good news! Here at Casa do Valle we read carefully all the reviews we get. We take them seriously and anything that we catch as an 'iffy' we try to correct. We have learned a lot reading through those comments, changed things, continued others. We especially love it when guests who are still here come to us and tell us they would like something different...

While I was away in February, I read the weekly magazine Styles of L'Express (France) . There was an article about Sintra in the spring. At the end of the article, there was the travelers' advice part, of how to get there, where to eat, where to stay. I am pleased to tell you that Casa do Valle was one of the 3 suggestions of Where to Stay , the other two were 5-star hotels. It is good to know that whoever stayed here from the part of the magazine had liked it! Thank you for recommending us. From the article ' Premiers soleils à Sintra , Styles L'Express, nº3007 of February 2009: 'Où dormir á Sintra: ...Casa do Valle - Charmant bed and breakfast aux ravissantes chambres meublées, avec jardin et piscine...' (p. 59).