Francisco Ferreira waxed rhapsodic – and contrary to expectation. One of the original “Douro Boys,” the semi-revolutionary gang who have made Douro table wine almost better known than port in some quarters, Ferreira got a faraway look in his eyes.

“I still make port because it is a fantastic product, and because, well…” He swept his arms out to gesture at the dramatic hillside, “well, we are in the Douro.” In fact, he makes vintage port (the just-declared 2011 is already spectacular) and a 20-year-old tawny.

We were having dinner at Quinta do Vallado (Vilarinho dos Freires, Peso da Regua, +351 254 324326, www.quintadovallado.com), the family estate that has also been a wine tourism destination in Portugal since 2005 – all the more so since the addition of eight more rooms and a full-fledged dining room in a new section last year. So for dessert, he not only brought out the 2011 vintage cask sample, but had the kitchen deliver a stupendous dessert. It consisted of paper-thin slices of oranges from trees that border the hotel with a reduction of white port (his, of course) with dark chocolate sprinkles.

The Douro Boys may have brought some tart ferment to the Douro Valley, but even they love that sweet spot it can deliver.