Miguel Leal: creating unique travel experiences for clients that are seeking out the best of what Portugal has to offer

Since childhood, Miguel had a tight connection with the wine world. His grandfather and father ran a small family wine estate. The vineyards were located in the north of Portugal in the wine growing region of the Vinho Verde. As a child, Miguel has fond memories of visiting the winery during harvest and helping with things like bottling and labeling the wines.

After graduating from university in Porto with a degree in international relations, Miguel started his career working in the family businesses for many years. The wine world’s siren call grew too strong to resist and in 2011 he decided to pursue his passion for a career in the world of wine and combine it with his other passion, automobiles and driving. That’s how ML-Private Tours was born.

ML Private Tours is a young company based in Oporto operating in the tourism sector, positioning itself in the “Premium “market segment. They specialize in creating unique travel experiences for clients that are seeking out the best of what Portugal has to offer, particularly in regards to the best wine and gastronomy. It operates in all the North of the country, betting on wine Tourism program and cultural Tourism as its main business area.

Although Miguel specializes in the north, mainly Porto, the Douro, Vinho Verde, Dão and Bairrada, when the opportunity arises, they can arrange premium visits to many other neighboring wine regions in Portugal and Spain.

Since the foundation in 2011, their objective has always been to be a link between their customers and wine producers, with Portuguese wines increasingly known and sought after, their work is very important, as they only recommend the best producers, so that their customers leave Portugal with the best memories when they return home and when they go to buy wines, buy Portuguese wines associated with the best memories of Portugal.

More than the quantity of tours, their focus is on their quality. In the year before the pandemic (2018), they had 2-3 tours per week from March to November, in terms of the number of people between 2 and 7 people. In 2019 (first year of the pandemic), they would have the best year ever, with a very large portfolio of reservations, but with the pandemic they were canceled. This year (2022) is a year of recovery, they already have some reservations and high expectations.