11 January 2024

CIM Douro, the Intermunicipal Community of Douro, is organizing the Douro European City of Wine 2023 Closing Gala this Saturday, January 13, at the ExpoSalão in Sernancelhe. The event will mark the end of a year of intense cultural and promotional activity in Douro, celebrating wine, the vineyard and the European award given to the region.

Starting at 9.30pm, the event will feature outstanding artists such as Áurea and Maro, accompanied by the Orchestra of the Ferreirim Regional Music Conservatory, in the municipality of Sernancelhe. As well as artistic moments, the Gala will also mark the transition of the title of European City of Wine to several municipalities in the Piedmont region of Italy in 2024.

Carlos Silva Santiago, president of CIM Douro, points out that the event represents the official closing of a year dedicated to promoting wine as an endogenous product and tourist attraction in the region, valuing producers, vineyard workers and the unique landscape.

The event will include tributes to the "workers of Douro", i.e. the more than 23,000 winegrowers who work with vines and wine in the Douro Region and are indispensable economic promoters for the success of our region. The role that Douro writers have played and continue to play in the affirmation of this territory will also be highlighted, and Miguel Torga, Aquilino Ribeiro and Guerra Junqueiro, among others, will be honored.

The gala will be a moment of reflection on the more than 600 activities that have taken place in the Douro's 19 municipalities throughout the year, promoting the region nationally and internationally. "We want to remember and pay tribute to all those who, through their actions, have managed to raise the name of the Douro Region, living up to the motto 'All Around Wine, All Around Douro', a brand that we have affirmed in Portugal and Europe and which has directly contributed to the development of our territory," says Carlos Silva Santigo.

One of the highlights of Douro European City of Wine 2023 was the celebration, chosen by the President of the Republic, of the Dia de Portugal, de Camões e das Comunidades Portuguesas (Day of Portugal, Camões and the Portuguese Communities) in the city of Peso da Régua, in the district of Vila Real.

The distinction of European City of Wine 2023 was conferred by RECEVIN, with the aim of promoting wine and its producers in the associated countries, as well as in Europe and internationally.