On our way from Porto to Pinhao on the Duoro River, we stopped at Casa de Juste for a tour and a cooking class. This estate is located about 60 km northeast of Porto. The manor house dates from the sixteenth century and has been in the Riba Duoro family for 18 generations. The property has a number of buildings and several acres of gardens. It is today considered a historical site by the Portugese Association of Historical Gardens. It is owned and managed today by Ana and Fernando Guedas and their family.
Fernando gave us a wonderful tour of the gardens, the small chapel and the main house. He is currently about to become head of the garden association. Ana helped us prepare a wonderful lunch of tomato soup with a poached egg (very Portugese), baked chicken, rice and tarte tatin for dessert. Cooking and eating was accompanied by a Casa de Juste vineyard green (young) wines – a rose and a white.
After a long visit and a great lunch, we headed over the mountains to Pinhao.
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