A trip to the Quinta do Frances vineyard where you will learn all about and taste the wines it has to offer, followed by lunch at a lovely restaurant!

Discover authentic tastes and flavours of the Algarve, home to many select vintages including the Vida Nova, the wine produced from Cliff Richards own vineyard. The Algarve is making its mark as a wine growing region to be reckoned with and boasts many great wines to rival the top regions of France.

Visit Quinta do Frances vineyard, nestled in the rolling hills. This stunning vineyard has a peace and tranquillity about it which is reflected in the unusual bouquet of its wines. Go for a tour round the wine press and cellar with an informative and friendly guide. Then sample the wine with your own personal wine tasting. Try the crisp fruity white with tropical pineapple overtone, the dry perfumed rose excellent as an aperitif and the last is the silky award winning reds (Silver Award Winner London 2009 & 2010).

The pumpkin jam made locally is an excellent accompaniment on wheat crackers.

Best of all you can take the wines you have enjoyed back to your villas thanks to Villa Select at €3 per bottle for 7 bottles. Why not purchase a case to last your holiday? If you want to have some at home and re-live your fantastic times, why not have a case (or two!!!) sent home? The vineyard will organise everything for you!

Now it’s time to board your own private transfer and climb up into the mountainous hinterland that borders the Algarve. The scenery changes rapidly to pine clad steeps covered with gorse making more reminiscent of Scotland then Portugal. The air is crisp and cooler up here too, a blessed relief after the heat of the coast.

Visit the fantastic Jardim das Olivieras restaurant, meaning olive grove, (www.jardimdasoliveiras.com) where you can enjoy traditional Portuguese mountain fayre, which is all home made. Wild boar stew, goat, as well as the famous Piri-Piri chicken are all on the menu and cooked to perfection! You can sit outside under the olive trees or in the restaurant itself which is decorated in charming traditional colours and has a warming log fire for cooler weather.

After your meal you will be a glass of the local Medronho, which is made from the little red strawberry like berry of the arbutus bush found in the mountains. It is 100% proof! The little chunks of traditional Monchique, cake are offered as part of this after drinking ritual.

Then full and relaxed board Grahame’s luxury transfer back safe and sound to your villa, with tastes, sights and sounds to cherish for a life time.

Vineyard Tour, Wine Tasting, Meal & Transfers

• ·         £125 per person

*Transfer costs are based on 2 people sharing the travel costs