There are buildings that help tell the very story of Invicta—and one such example is the Porto Customs House. Built on the former Miragaia beach, it was designed to receive and inspect goods entering and leaving the city via the Douro River during the second half of the 19th century. Today, more than 150 years later, its days as a customs house are long gone, but its historical and cultural significance earned it the designation of National Monument in 2023.
With its exhibitions and conferences, the Porto Customs House remains a gathering place—and on Saturday, November 21, it will host the Enóphilo Wine Fest. An event designed with lovers of Portuguese wine in mind, featuring special tastings and the opportunity to speak directly with carefully selected experts and small- and medium-sized producers. In a way, the past and the present go hand in hand here.
21 November 2026 15:00
Alfândega do Porto
A brief history of this setting along the Douro
To understand the origins of the Porto Customs House, one must imagine a riverside area quite different from today’s, with a small beach and a stretch of sand along the Douro. The building was designed by the French architect Jean F. G. Colson, who worked at the Louvre and was hired by the Ministry of Public Works in Portugal.
According to the chronology of the Museum of Transport and Communications, the Porto Customs House was inaugurated in 1869. More than a century later, customs services began to be transferred to the outskirts. In the 1990s, the building underwent a renovation led by the renowned architect Eduardo Souto de Moura, winner of the Pritzker Prize—the “Nobel Prize of Architecture”—in 2011.
A Toast at a National Monument
It is in this setting along the Douro, right in the heart of the National Monument, where you’ll have the opportunity to discover more than 350 different wines and around 40 Portuguese producers during the 36th edition of the Enóphilo Wine Fest (a national event) and the 11th local edition, on November 21, from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
The general admission ticket grants access to the open wine tasting featuring the wines of the participating producers and includes a glass on loan, which must be returned upon exit. If you’d like to enhance the experience, there are three special tastings (with limited seating), but these are not included with the general admission ticket. A unique way to spend an autumn afternoon by the river with a glass in hand!
Useful Information
📍Where: Alfândega do Porto, Rua Nova da Alfândega 59
⏰When: November 21 (Saturday), from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
🎟️Tickets: presale and general admission tickets on sale for €19.90; double ticket—a pack for two people with a 40% discount—€30 total; cool driver pack: buy four tickets and get one extra ticket for the driver for free
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