Page 66 - WDT MAGAZINE PORTUGAL

Our next port of call so to speak was the
great Quinta da Croft Roêda, owned by Croft,
one of the oldest Port houses founded 1588.
Their grounds and outbuildings along with a
huge tasting room were impressive. Located
above the Douro, all enjoyed expansive views of
the river and hillside vineyards as far as the eye
could see.
“Wow,” I thought to myself, “This would be a
great place to fly a drone for a bird’s eye view of
this gorgeous wine country.” Coincidentally my
trusty drone, Evo, was in my bag. I mentioned to
our guide that I would love to fly my drone here,
expecting an “are you kidding” negative reply.
Instead, I got “That’s great, no problem -- can we
have a copy of the video?.” Another reason to love
Portugal.
While everyone was touring the vineyards, I
set up my drone, making sure I had a fresh
battery and Micro SD memory card to store my
video files. Soon Evo was high above the
vineyards soaring toward the river, then over
vineyards on both banks before returning to the
estate for a perfect landing. I was pumped, as I
always am after a good flight. Time to taste some
more port, including their quaffable PINK, a rose
port wine introduced by Croft a few years earlier.

Ron flying his EVO drone
over wine country. Left:
Croft winery looking
down at the Douro river.

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