A budget of 1.5 million euros for 2025 was approved by the Douro Museum Foundation, which also unveiled additional sections of the permanent exhibition in Régua, including a historic wine cellar that holds 1,200 bottles of Port wine. Other new elements include an interactive map and a small auditorium and projection area where you can view documentaries and films about the museum and the Douro.

As the director of the Douro Museum Fernando Seara explained, “It is an exhibition that is evolving and alive, like the region. It is not stuck in time. It was created with this spirit and is updated every year”. The 1,200 bottles in that wine cellar, which date from 1935 onwards and represent 112 exporting businesses, are a testament to the diversity of Port wine merchants in the first half of the 20th century.

The historical wine cellar is also a permanent deposit of the ‘Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto (IVDP)’, which has placed a large part of its archive in the custody of the Douro Museum. “There are beautiful bottles that we are inventorying, cataloguing, digitising the labels and, in essence, creating a true collection. More than 1,200 bottles of Port wine are on display here”, Fernando Seabra shared.

The head of the museum stated that 2024 "will be the museum's best year," adding that October saw more visitors and income than anticipated. According to Fernando Seara, the activity plan calls for 31 travelling exhibitions to take place in 20 towns in 2025, with two taking place outside of the Douro Demarcated Region.