Located on a mountain plateau well inland from the Atlantic Ocean, the granite-swathed Dão is an ideal wine-growing region. It’s surrounded on three sides by sharp granite mountain ranges–on first glance to our Californian eyes they look remarkably like the northern Sierra Nevada’s–which keep the climate temperate, limiting the cooling coastal effects that heavily influence its immediate neighbor to the west, Bairrada. The sandy soil that sits on top of the stone allows for efficient drainage of both the river watershed and the significant winter rainfall. One of Portugal’s oldest and historically important wine regions, the Dão–not the Douro–is the home of Touriga Nacional, Portugal’s most internationally important grape.
Wet winters and long, warm dry summers are ideal for grape growing and most producers in the Dão farm their vines without irrigation. Most of the region’s production is red wine (80%) and it is one of the more heavily regulated DOCs, requiring at least 20% Touriga Nacional in all red blends. Touriga Nacional is typically blended with Tinta Roriz (Spain’s Tempranillo) and Alfrocheiro–a fruity and darkly colored grape. Although once known for a distinctive oxidized style of white wine, now much of the Dão’s whites are crisp refreshing blends built upon the Encruzado grape blended with Malvasia Fina, Bical and Cerceal which is a synonym for Arinto and is a different grape from the Sercial of Madeira. Oak aging is common for the red wines to help mellow Touriga Nacional’s strong tannins and French oak is favored.
Under the Salazar dictatorship, the Dão region was singled out for the production of what was intended to be Portugal’s signature wine on the international market–it’s Bordeaux or Rioja. In order to achieve a uniform standard of quality, all grape growers were required to make their wines at a handful of regional cooperatives. Unfortunately this had the opposite of its intended effect, with cumbersome and poorly managed cooperatives producing inconsistent wine and stagnating innovation. This requirement was ended when Portugal began the process of accession to the European Union and a group of young wine Dão wine makers began the arduous process of returning to estate wine making and bringing the region’s wines into the modern era.
We’re very proud to represent one of the New Dão’s most esteemed modern producers, Quinta de Cabriz. Wine maker Carlos Lucas (Portugal’s 2007 Wine Maker of the Year) and his partner wineries in Global Wines are producing consistent, high-quality wines that express the Dão’s unique terroir. The expressive and pleasing entry level Colheita Seleccionada Tinto and Branco (~$13 retail) are both classic Dão blends of Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz and Alfrocheiro for the red and Malvasia Fina, Encruzado, Cerceal and Bical for the white. The red is aged for six months in two year-old French oak while the white is aged entirely in stainless steel. To taste the power and elegance that can come from wine made from the region’s top vineyard plots, the Cabriz Reserva Tinto (~$20 retail) is a blend of the same three grapes picked from the best sites in the estate vineyard and then aged for nine months in one year-old French oak. The well-structured Reserva is ready to drink now but will continue to improve for five years or more.
We’re pleased to see the Dão in general and Quinta de Cabriz in particular receiving increased international attention with the Colheita Seleccionada Tinto 2008 receiving a “90 Points, Best Buy” rating in this month’s issue of Wine Spectator, affirming for others what we’ve known for several years.

by David Duman