From Portugal's Highest Heights, Wines of Depth and Dimension
Grapevines grow in every province of Portugal, a country whose geographic diversity and abundance of native varietals have prompted writers to label it "Western Europe's last wine frontier." And yet, for casual drinkers the world over, this ampelographer's paradise is still synonymous with a handful of marquee exports, the most famous of which are fizzy or fortified. Many of us have quaffed Vinho Verde with fried seafood—or sipped a strong, sweet nightcap from the Douro Valley’s UNESCO-designated vineyards. Fewer would imagine wine from a landscape that resembled Portugal's Dão highlands, a craggy hinterland of pine and chestnut forests home to ancient herding routes, lonely shepherds, and snowy winters.
Rising 1,993 meters (6,539 feet) above sea level, the granite towers of the Serra da Estrela stand guard over the vineyards of the Dão plateau, offering vital protection from wind and weather.
"We don't really have altitude wines in Portugal, but if we did, these would be our altitude wines," says Rita Santos of Lisbon's Comida Independente, a beloved wine and provisions market celebrating small Portuguese producers. Santos, who has scoured classic and little-known regions to source Portugal's finest handmade vinho and queijo, believes that some of her country's most elegant, mineral-driven wines come from grapes grown upwards of 400 meters in the Dão's dense, compact granitic soils. "It's all about the effort the vines have to make; there's a finesse to these wines—even the ones made from varietals that don't produce such delicate wines in other regions. I think it's because the vines have to struggle so much."
Too rugged for mechanized agriculture, the Dão's geography makes the growing season just as effortful for vinhateiros. But if the terrain obliges winegrowers to rely on ancestral methods of cultivation, it also insulates the vineyards from fierce Atlantic winds—and mitigates the extreme heat of continental summers. Framed by granite ridges that have a moderating influence on the climate and ensure Goldilocks amounts of moisture, the Dão has long held a fascination for Portugal's wine cognoscenti, who know it as a seedbed for indigenous varietals capable of extraordinary verve and structure.
"In a warm vintage, the fruit quality of a good Dão red can evoke the wines of the northern Rhone," says Diogo Amado, sommelier and proprietor of Prova wine bar in Porto, one of the city's most rewarding places to explore the breadth and diversity of Portuguese wine culture. "And encruzado, with its notes of lemon, white fruit, and almond peel, often reminds me of white Burgundy. Both the reds and the whites have excellent aging potential. Even today, it is normal to open a Dão wine from the '50s and find it in very nice condition."
Biodynamically farmed encruzado clusters from Casa de Mouraz’s 2019 harvest
So why isn't your neighborhood wine shop flush with precise, lifted Dão blends made from tinta roriz and alfrocheiro? For starters, there's the issue of scale. "Unlike most wine regions around the world, where vineyards dominate the landscape, the Dão is still comprised of small polycultural farms," says Gyde & Seek's José Luís, noting that it's common to see vines co-planted with rye and potatoes—or, at lower elevations, citrus and olive groves. Wine importers typically require large quantities to justify the cost of shipping wine overseas, and many of Dão's artisan producers simply don't have the volume.
Politics have played a role, too, with crippling Salazar-era restrictions costing the region years of progress. "During the dictatorship, Dão growers were obligated to sell their fruit to large cooperatives, and the wine quality was often very poor," explains Gyde & Seek's Filipe, who makes wine in neighboring Douro. "Things improved dramatically in the 1980s with the opening of the wine trade and Portugal's admission to the EU."
Steep slopes, small parcels, and stone architecture are among the Dão’s topographical trademarks.
Even if Dão entered the 21st century with a certain comeback-kid energy, it would be folly to label the region “emerging.” This is seriously historic terroir, with parcels once farmed by 12th-century Cistercian monks, and a following that dates at least to the Age of Discoveries. (In 1414, on the eve of his conquest of Ceuta, José Luís tells us, Prince Henry the Navigator served Dão at the send-off festivities.)
For the visiting wine pilgrim, this mix of potential and pedigree is part of what makes the Dão so alluring. Within striking distance of Porto, it offers a very special day trip off the beaten wine trail, especially if you enlist the expertise of an oenophile historian like Filipe or José Luís. They can help you take in Reconquista-era castles and snow-packed peaks, explore the monuments of the regional capital, Viseu (spoiler alert: there's a lot of granite), unlock stubborn cellar doors, and taste the work of the region's preeminent wine minds paired with its spoonable DOP sheep's cheese.
Wooly visitors make themselves at home in Quinta de Lemos’ winter vineyards.
In the meantime, you should probably be drinking some Dão. We have it on good authority that the wines of Álvaro Castro (Quinta da Pellada), António Madeira, Casa de Mouraz, Quinta de Lemos, Julia Kemper, and João Tavares de Pina, while still elusive in many US markets, are references worth seeking out. With a little help from our industry friends, we tracked down two exemplary cuvées available on stateside shelves right now.
Casa de Mouraz Dão Encruzado 2017
"Encruzado tends to produce elegant, well-structured whites with complex aromatics," says Filipe. "It has the ability to give wines an almost perfect balance between sugar and acidity." Fresh and zippy, with a subtle creaminess owing to three months of lees contact, this 100% encruzado comes from 50-year-old vines in the Dão's first certified organic vineyard.
Quinta de Lemos Dona Santana 2006
"After working abroad for many years, Celso de Lemos returned to the Dão to invest his earnings in his native region," says Filipe. "He bought an estate in the 1990s, making enormous improvements in the vineyards and facilities, and eventually opening a (now Michelin-starred) restaurant. Maintaining them requires a great deal of effort and intention in an area that is sparsely populated and not especially touristic." A rare treat from an old vintage, this bold-but-bright blend, built to accompany the region's hearty fare, features four of the Dão's most traditional red varietals: touriga nacional, tinta roriz (better known as tempranillo), jaen (a.k.a. mencía), and alfrocheiro. With 13 years of age, it's drinking beautifully now.
