Taylor’s invests €100 million in ‘World of Wine’ theme park in Porto’s Gaia

Port wine warehouses belonging to the Fladgate group in Gaia Porto are being converted into a 30,000m2 theme park dedicated to the regions’s port, wine and cork industry.

The project from the Fladgate Partnership whicn owns port wine brands such as Taylor’s, Croft, Fonseca and Krohn will invest €100 million in the World of Wine, a massive museum and visitors centre covering 30,000m2 in the historic centre of Vila Nova de Gaia.

The site will include five museums, 12 restaurants, artisan and handicraft shops, a wine school and temporary exhibition space in the theme park which is expected to attract around 500,000 visitors a year.

The project was launched in May at a ceremony with Adrian Bridge, Fladgate CEO and Gaia councillor Eduardo Vítor Rodrigues.

In practice, the World of Wine (WoW) project involves the reconversion of the group’s old warehouses located below the Hotel Yeatman and the Taylor’s Visitors Centre to create the theme park which also aims to act as a booster for investment and development in the surrounding area.

In addition to the wine, cork and fashion and design museums, visitors will also get the chance to see the Porto Museum dedicated to the history, development and architect of te city and region over time as well as discovering how the cup, wine glass, chalice and other drinking vessels developed through history.

The collection of drinking vessels in the museum will include examples from Adrian Bridge’s own collection which has pieces from all over the world spanning 8,000 years of history.

The theme park is being financed by BPI bank with EU funds as part of the IFRRU2020 and JESSICA  urban rehabilitation project and involves €58 million over 20 years.