Rant: Two Portuguese Wineries, Two Opposing Guides

I've visited numerous wineries, in the U.S., Canada, Europe and South America, and the personality and presentation of the winery representative/guide has a significant effect on how one views that winery. You want a guide who has passion and enthusiasm, who is knowledgeable and personable. Otherwise, you might be disinterested in the winery, maybe even irritated that you're wasting your time. When I recently traveled to Portugal, this issue became front and center in my mind again as I witnessed two dramatically different guide styles.

In general, the guides (for wineries, historical sites, museums, et.c) on my tour of Porto and the Douro were very good, evidencing plenty of passion, enthusiasm, knowledge and personality. As such, my group reacted positively to them, paying attention to what they said, soaking in all of the provided information, and enjoying themselves. These were the types of guides you would recommend to your friends.

One stellar example was Paula Pereira, who works in marketing & public relations for Quinta de Covela. From the opening moments of meeting her, you couldn't help but be enamored with her bubbly enthusiasm, her sincere and infectious passion for Covela. As she led us through a wine tasting, her passion never lagged and she presented us with plenty of information about the estate, the region and the wines. It became a fully enjoyable and informative tour, and we could have easily remained there for hours chatting with Paula. My tour companions all commented on Paula's compelling personality and she was the perfect advocate for Covela.

On the other hand, we visited one of the larger Port lodges and our guide was far from compelling. Though he was certainly knowledge, he seemed to lack enthusiasm and passion. When he spoke, it was rapid-fire and seemed to go on and on, not giving anyone a break to ask questions. And by the time he did stop speaking, you almost felt too exhausted to ask questions. It seemed like it was a chore for him, one he wanted to end as quickly as possible. He wasn't the type of guide who injected passion into the tour attendees, some who seemed quite bored. I was disappointed in this tour, primarily because of the deficiencies of the guide.

In the future, when I look back to my many fond memories of Portugal, I'll definitely think of Paula Pereira and Covela, and I'll likely give little thought to the Port lodge. I strongly suspect my fellow travel companions feel the same way. Wineries, and others, certainly need to carefully consider the nature of their guides, and seek those with great passion and enthusiasm. Those are the guides who will make the greatest impacts on your visitors. Those are the guides who will lead to many recommendations as well as return visitors.