The best wines from Dão in Portugal

Dão is a fairly well-known wine region from the middle of Portugal. For years, beautiful wines from Dão have been appearing with some regularity. Often they are fairly robust red wines that are favourably priced for their quality. The better wines from Dão can be stored for a remarkably long time.

Dão is a fairly well-known wine region from central Portugal. For years, beautiful wines from Dão have been appearing regularly. They are often quite robust red wines that are favourably priced for their quality. The better wines from Dão can be stored for a remarkably long time. You can buy one wine from Dão from us. You can find this wine on the left side of this page.

The district of Dão has what you call a 'beautiful terroir'. The vineyards are located on steep slopes of the river of the same name. Wedged between mountains that protect them from wind and rain from the Atlantic Ocean and the dry storms from the interior. It can be cold there in the winter. The summers are dry and hot.

Dão is mainly known for its beautiful dry red wines. These can often be stored for decades without losing their complexity. But the cheap wines from Dão are also often remarkably good. They are made in a smooth, soft style. The top wines from Dão are more concentrated, with a dense structure, and tannins that are softened by wood maturation.

The winemakers from Dão are not so impressed by international grape varieties. They prefer to stick to the grapes that their great-great-grandfathers also used. The most important grapes for red wines from Dão are Touriga National, Alfrocheiro, Jaen and Tinta Roriz. They put the step - just like great-great-grandfather - in an elegantly shaped bottle, which is somewhat reminiscent of a bottle from Burgundy. Less well-known is the Bastardo grape, which grows on a reasonable scale in the region and also produces wines that are reminiscent of Burgundy.

The white wines from Dão are less well-known, but can be very tasty. They are made from Encruzado and Bical grapes, among others. The white wine is also bottled in the recognizable Dão bottle.