Four days in Portugal's Dão wine region

For this trip, we're heading to the "Heart" of Portugal for a road trip through the countryside, visiting Viseu, Gouveia, Nelas and others. We'll experience some of the fantastic wine producers of the Dão wine region.

Situated in the mountainous region of central Portugal, between 400 and 700 meters high, and just south of its more famous cousin, the Douro, Dão is a ‘Denominação de Origem Controlada’ (DOC or ‘Controlled Denomination of Origin) that some refer to as the ‘Portuguese Burgundy’. Nestled In the foothills of the Serra da Estrela mountains, it is one of the oldest established wine regions in the country with a rich history, its small villages and lush countryside are marked with impressions from periods of occupation by the Phoenicians, Romans, Knights Templar, Moors, and Christian Monks. A captivating area to explore not just for the wine but for its spectacular landscape, historic villages, and granite-laden mountains.

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Protected by the mountains from the Atlantic winds, giving it a temperate climate, and with a soil rich in schist and granite, the region now produces some of the best wines in Portugal. Dão wines are gastronomic wines, with an exceptional acidity, complex and delicate fitting perfectly with local food, like Serra da Estrela cheese due in part, to the complexity, elegance, balance, and maturity.

The region was officially instituted in 1908, on the province of Beira Alta, as a ‘Região Demarcada’ (Demarcated Region). It was the first of this kind that produced non-liquor wines (Port) in Portugal, and the second demarcated wine region overall. In 1990, it became a DOC, with specific rules for its production and protection.

In the 1940s, as a way to improve the region’s wine quality and promote a sense of national identity, Portugal’s Dictator António de Oliveira Salazar ordered that only co-operatives were allowed to produce wine in the region. These would have exclusive rights to buy the region’s grapes and for the whole winemaking process. The private businesses could only buy the finished product.

This, however, created stagnation as many of the co-operatives started making inferior quality wines, having un-hygienic practices, and producing less wine for sale. This made the regions of Douro and Alentejo have to compensate for this shortage of wine, improving their own production, keeping their quality, and attracting the interest of wine experts and the world’s wine consumers.

In 1979, however, with Portugal adhering to the European Union, these rules had to be withdrawn. Now, there are new wine ventures in the region, creating a rebirth on one of the most known wine regions of the country, The "New Dão".

One of the keys to this individuality is the mix of grapes employed: you won’t find international superstar grape varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot here. One of the unique selling points of most Portuguese wines is their reliance on indigenous varieties, and the Dão is no exception. Touriga Nacional is the leading red variety, a spicy, peppery wine with lovely forest fruit character, but it is more commonly blended with varieties such as Tinta Roriz (the Tempranillo of Spain), Jaen, and Alfrocheiro Preto. Many of the "New Dão" winemakers are experimenting with making wines from just a single variety, while maintaining the traditional blends.

Dão also makes increasingly successful white wines, the best displaying good concentration of fruit with refreshing acidity and often some subtle nutty oak notes. Encruzado is the leading white grape, often supported by Bical or Arinto, among others. But it's the reds that are the real focus here.

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Our first stop the City of Viseu, where we spent the afternoon and the following morning exploring the city. Our hotel for the night was the Pousada Viseu. A "Pousada" in Portugal typically refers to an upscale hotel that has been restored from historic buildings like castles, monasteries, or convents, a great partnership to restore and preserve some of the landmark properties in Portugal. These hotels are often managed by the Portuguese government and are part of a larger network known as Pousadas of Portugal. We generally seek these types of accommodations for their historical significance.

The Pousada Viseu was built in the former Hospital de São Teotónio, which dates back to 1842. It was completely rebuilt and adapted into a hotel in 2009. The hotel maintains a commanding presence on top of a small hill overlooking the historic part of the city. As an homage to the Dao wine region, there are a few grape vines at the entrance of indigenous varieties.

Viseu, along with its historic buildings and monuments, is filled with lush greenery, mature trees, and inviting parks. The streets of the historic center feel very European complete with elaborate fountains, creative art on a few buildings, and industrious street musicians.

We had time to visit the Misericórdia Church, the Religious Art Museum, and the Cathedral, one of Viseu's most symbolic buildings. The city had a golden age for religious art and architecture, as proven by the many churches that decorate the old town.

The two structures stand in contrast to each other. The dark granite austerity of the cathedral and museum sits directly across from the granite and contrasting white facade of the richly decorated Church of Misericórdia.

We had a fantastic dinner and experience in a small village outside Viseu. In Vilar Seco, the Restaurant Atmosphere by Chez Gilbert sits in an unassuming village, just inside the walls of an old farm and manor house, where the modern dining room is housed in an old stone wine building. The restaurant is part of the Solar de Vilar Seco, a restored and preserved small luxury hotel within a former working farm. The Manor house and farm date back to the 18th century

A memorable dinner with just the two of us dining for the evening, a slow Monday night in a small village in the off-season, in what was a true Michelin star experience without all the formality. Chef Gilbert and our server Siri were gracious and sincere, making us feel like guests in their home. The chef presented each dish personally, and the food and wine pairings were well-matched. We spent about an hour after dinner with the chef and his wife in fun conversation, learning about their global journeys and passion for food and wine. I feel that we were fortunate to dine here and share this experience as they will most likely be found by countless others, including the Michelin guide, and receive numerous accolades for what they are doing

The next part of our journey is meeting heading into the Dão and our base for the next few days at the small Rural Hotel, Quinta de Madre de Água in Gouveia, a small 10-room hotel on a working farm. In addition to the 10 hotel rooms, the farm includes a flock of Bordaleira sheep, a stud farm that raises and preserves pure-bred Lusitano horses, a winery, vineyards, olive trees, and orchards of pear and apple. A comfortable place to hang our hats for the next few days while we explore a few areas of the Dão.

The two house cats ran the hotel, always at the check-in desk and on your lap as soon as you sat anywhere in the lounge. The 80+ rescue dogs kept the outdoors in check, a few were allowed to roam the farm, and the horses and colts provided endless entertainment.

The beautiful Lusitano horses roam in large fenced fields throughout the property, ready to accept the occasional apple from the orchards. We could watch the three young colts running and jumping each day, never straying too far from mom.

The small Madre de Agua winery and it's granite tanks for foot-stomping during the crush.

On a few occasions, leaving Madre de Aqua, we would pass this stunning building seemingly in ruin and unoccupied. We discovered that it was the Convento de São Francisco, a former Franciscan convent located on the outskirts of Gouveia. Originating in 1125/1312, when the Order of the Templars settled in Gouveia, it was sold to a private family in 1839 and remains in private ownership today.

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Caminos Cruzados

Our next visit was to the modern-designed concrete Adega of Caminos Cruzados. Located in Vilar Seco in the heart of the Dão region, surrounded by the Serra da Estrela and Caramulo mountains. Part of a new generation of winemakers affectionately called "The New Dão" due to a rebirth of winemaking under a modern approach. The name Cruzados (Crossroads) comes from the family's belief that life does not always follow straight paths and that, on the contrary, there are more atypical paths that lead us to incredible places. I couldn't agree more!

The group of "New Dão" winemakers respect the region's traditions but take its strengths to a new level by focusing on modern techniques, utilizing the region's distinct old and new vines, and the classic varieties of the Dão: Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Jaen, Alfrocheiro, and Encruzado. Single-varietal and single-vineyard wines are now taking center stage, along with traditional styles of blended varietals.

After a tour of the project, including the groves of Alentejo oaks being grown to make new wine barrels from Portuguese oak, a relatively new development for Portugal, we enjoyed a tasting of their wines.

World Wide Wines by Carlos Raposo

Next up is a distinctly different experience, a "start-up" of sorts at World Wide Wines, the brainchild of winemaker Carlos Raposo. Carlos has years of experience with wine, formally trained in France and years at some of the top wine houses there. Returning to Portugal, he quickly made his mark by working with some of Douro's best producers. He has now branched out on his own and, in his true style, is already taking the Portuguese wine world by storm. The space is not flashy; in an old, run-down wine co-op warehouse in Nelas, we sampled some of his work straight from the barrel and those previously bottled. We really liked his 2022 IMPECÁVEL 100% Encruzado, and 2019 IMPECAVEL 100% Touriga Nacional.

The large domed concrete tanks in the photos below are in the Village of Nelis. These can be found here and in the Douro region and were used to store wine in bulk before being transported to the producer for aging and bottling.

Textura Wines

Today, we visit Textura Wines, located in Gouveia. Textura is a family project started in 2018 on the slopes of the Serra da Estrela mountains. They have renovated and repurposed an abandoned old textile factory and turned it into a winery and tasting room. 22 ha of organic vineyards and low-intervention winemaking produce wines with character that are reflective of the Dão region.

One of Textura's "Old Vines" vineyards is located near the winery. It has vines older than 100 years set on a granite hillside.

Returning to Madre de Aqua after our tour and tasting at Textura, we ran into a traffic jam as a local shepherd was moving his herd of goats back to the farm along the narrow granite-walled road.

Taboadella

Our last day of experiences in the Dão and possibly the best of the week, our first stop is Taboadella. Although the records of Taboadella date back to 1255, historical research has revealed that it was occupied far earlier, and its original use dates back to the 1st century when it housed a Roman Villae, at the time an upper rural class estate that consisted of a house, a wine cellar, and a barn, together with other small constructions tucked away in a forest of pine, oak and chestnut trees.

The vast property features the wine house tasting room and retail shop, the eight-room Relais & Chateau Vila, vast vineyards among the ancient ruins, and the newly built winery.

We started in the wine house for a tasting.

Next to the vineyard and not far from the wine house is the Roman-era wine press chiseled from a monolithic boulder. It is one of the oldest historical vestiges of winemaking technology in the Dão region, demonstrating the importance of wine for the payment of wages and as a strategic product for trade in those times.

Walking from the wine house at the top of the property through the vineyards and historic ruins to the winery.

The winery is impressive, with a heavy investment in the facility and wine-making equipment, from the Italian-made concrete and stainless tanks to the barrel-top walk reminiscent of the nearby world's longest pedestrian suspension bridge.

Quinta do Perdigão

To cap off our time in the Dão, we visit José Perdigão and Vanessa Chrystie at Quinta do Perdigão in Silgueiros. They are a dynamic and passionate couple proud of their family project. The humble historic stone winery is in the middle of the vineyard, which features the classic Dão varietals José and his daughter Mafalda use to create their fantastic wines. The facilities are minimalist, but the finished product and the accolades they receive are anything but humble. It's one of the purest and most prized vineyards in the Dão and is Organically-certified and sustainable. Vanessa is an artist by trade and designs the labels, different each year. The wines are both traditional and experimental, combining styles of the old and the "New Dão," producing indigenous single varietals and blends.

The old vine vineyards have a small block of what's believed to be the only remaining pre-Phylloxera native Portuguese Touriga National rootstock and vines left in the country. In the late 1800s, Phylloxera devastated most European vineyards, causing them to replant by grafting the vines on newly planted American rootstock, which was resistant to the plague. Today, the original pre-Phylloxera vines are very rare. José believes that they are very special and make for an interesting wine.

We felt his wines were some of the best we sampled this week. His prices are more "Portuguese" than some of the newer, more sophisticated wineries, ranging from 7,00 € to 20,00 € per bottle. We particularly enjoyed their single varietals of Jaen, Touriga National, and Alfrocheiro along with the blended Tinto Noel Perdigão featuring Jaen, Touriga National, Tinto Roriz (the Portuguese version of the Spanish Tempranillo), and Alfrocheiro.