The Yeatman, Oporto's Winery Hotel

Winemakers are generally known for their hospitality, and many have set up bed-and-breakfast facilities as add-ons to their wineries in order to accommodate wine tourists. A few larger wineries have gone a step further and built full-service hotels and spas in their vineyards, such as Marques de Riscal in Rioja, Spain, and Châteaux Smith Haut-Lafitte (Sources de Caudalie) and Cordeillan-Bages in Bordeaux, France.

What sets the Fladgate Partnership's Yeatman Hotel in Portugal apart is its location. Because the art of making fine ports is in blending single or multiple vintages, most of these activities take place in the warehouses of Vila Nova de Gaia, perched on the hillsides looking across the Douro River at downtown Oporto.

And that's where The Yeatman stands — a world-class, modern hotel opened in September 2010, just across the street from the warehouses and tasting rooms of Taylor Fladgate, which, along with Croft and Fonseca, make up the brands of the partnership.

In its first year, The Yeatman has joined the Relais & Châteaux collection, and just this past week the restaurant was given its first Michelin star, one of only a dozen restaurants in Spain and Portugal — and the only one in Oporto — to receive that status. The Yeatman also affords stunning,

(Photo courtesy of Flickr/PABLO ASOREY)

Previously, The Yeatman's chef, Ricardo Costa, worked at Casa do Calçada, where he also achieved Michelin star status. At The Yeatman, Costa's cuisine is a contemporary interpretation of classical Portuguese dishes and flavors, and the hotel's wine director is Beatriz Machado.

"Everyone at The Yeatman is delighted to receive this award, which is recognition of the work that our chef Ricardo Costa and his team have done," says CEO Adrian Bridge.  "The Yeatman has always been an ambitious project to create a new level of experience for people who wish to visit Porto and northern Portugal."