Dão Portuguese Wine Region
In the lands of Dão Portuguese Wine Region, protected by some of the most beautiful mountains in Portugal, the cultivation of vines has a centuries-old tradition.
The rivers that cross the region, including the one that gives it its name, run between the green of the fields where pine, chestnut and oak trees predominate. The granite and shale dwellings are coloured by the heather and broom vegetation.
Dão is a strongly distinctive wine, standing out for its unquestionable aging capacity and its evolution in the bottle, resulting in noble, elegant wines, with high potential for aging, an excellent combination with food.
In reds, we have Touriga Nacional, a native grape from Dão, which gives us concentrated, fresh, and elegant wines, as only a granite region and surrounded by mountain massifs can provide. We also have Jaen, Alfrocheiro or Tinta Roriz.
As for the whites, Encruzado, another emblematic grape variety, which provides great wines for its unusual minerality and aging capacity and evolution in the bottle. In batches with Malvasia Fina, Bical, or Cerceal, provides wines of marked elegance.
The most prestigious wines come from Adegas da Casa de Santar, Quinta de Cabriz e Quinta da Teixuga
Food Pairings
In the birth place of Touriga Nacional, the finest wines were born. Quality, personality difference, elegance, freshness, and softness. The Dão is all this and more.
Discovering its wines is entering a new world of aromas and flavours that captivate and seduce – soon to become unmistakable and unforgettable.
Dão reds are usually ruby red. They have delicate and ripe fruity aromas, fine tannins, balanced with good acidity and good aging potential.
Whites, in turn, usually have medium body and refreshing acidity, being full of character, especially when they have Encruzado in their blend.
Red Dão is ideal to pair with:
- Serra da Estrela Cheese;
- Red meat;
- Dishes that combine meat with fruit, such as lamb with apricots;
- Chocolate and desserts with chocolates as a base.
One of the secrets of whites lies in the Encruzado variety, which expresses itself without peer. The other secret, is in the significant improvement in viticulture and enology practices of the last decades. Although, there was a generalized increase in the quality of overall Portuguese wines, it is palpable at the Dão region.
Dão white wines pairs with seafood, grilled fresh fish, white meats, and as an aperitif.
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