Dão Region
Dão has been a demarcated region since 1908, the first for non-fortified wines in Portugal. However, its winegrowing history starts much earlier, probably with the Celts, who inhabited the region and left traces within our Domínio do Açor, as well as the Romans who succeeded them, who most probably used our domaine as an agricultural area: the Roman road once ornamented with arches, the fountain and the Roman fountains bear witness to this historical vocation of this noble land.
In the hands of cooperatives during the Estado Novo, between 1954 and 1971, 10 cooperatives were instituted with the monopoly right to buy the grapes. Producers could only buy ready-made wine in this scenario, contributing to a complete inhibition of this type of private initiative. When Portugal joined the EEC in 1985, this monopolistic legislation became incompatible and independent producers began to flourish: Quinta da Ponte Pedrinha (1987); Quinta da Pellada (1989), Quinta dos Roques (1989); Quinta das Maias (1989); Casa de Cello - Quinta da Vegia (1989); Quinta da Fonte do Ouro (1989); Quinta das Marias (1991); Vinhos de Darei (1997); Quinta da Fata (1998); Júlia Kemper (1999); Quinta do Perdigão (1999); Quinta de Lemos (2000); Casa de Mouraz (2000); Idealdrinks - Dom Bella (2011); Magnum Vinhos (2011); Druida (2012), Textura Wines (2018), etc.
We can say that although some wines from cooperatives and from Centro de Estudo de Nelas from past decades showed the Dão's immense capacity to stand the test of time, it was in the last three decades that the Dão has presented itself as the region with the greatest potential for making great whites and reds of elegance and minerality, a potential that will be fully revealed in the decades to come.
DÃO TODAY
There are currently 117 producers/bottlers (including cooperatives) registered on the website of the Dão Regional Winegrowing Commission (CVR). The planted area is 14,500 hectares (376,000 ha total in the appellation), and the approximate production is 260,000hl (2019/2020), corresponding to 4% of Portugal's total.
Terroir
GEOGRAPHY, CLIMATE AND SOILS
In the lively, granitic soils of Domínio do Açor, the essential minerals are available to our vines, and in moderate, balanced quantities. Our vegetative vigour is naturally low, and granitic minerality is the guiding thread for all our whites and reds.
Dão is located on the southern border of northern Portugal, coinciding with the Beirão plateau, which is surrounded by mountain ranges made up to the north by the Nave, Montemuro and Lapa mountains; to the south by the Buçaco, Açor and Lousã mountains, to the east by the Serra da Estrela (the highest mountain range in Portugal, at almost 2,000 metres above sea level) and to the west by the Caramulo mountains. The altitude of the vines is between 150 and 700 metres.
The predominant soils are of granite origin (97.8%), approximately 300 million years old, thin, with a sandy to silty-sandy texture, acid pH, poor in organic matter and extractable mineral elements, with low water retention capacity and, therefore, low fertility. Granite rock outcrops are very common.
The climate of the DO Dão is clearly marked by the mountain ranges that surround it and protect it from the Atlantic influence. Generally speaking, it can be said that the climate of this region is moderately continental (like Burgundy and Barolo), the Mediterranean influence being greater than the Atlantic.
Average annual temperature: 14°C - 16°C (Bourgogne 12°C), average summer temperature: 18°C - 20°C (Bourgogne 20°C), maximum daily temperature range in summer: 20°C.
Granite
From a geological point of view, granite is a felsic or acid igneous rock (with a high silica content), whose main minerals in its composition are quarz and potassic feldspar.
Extremely hard and resistant, it gives rise to low fertility, sandy to silty soils with low water retention capacity. From an oenological point of view, it shares with limestone the maximum excellence in the production of wines with elegance, freshness, subtlety and aromatic complexity, tension in the mouth and fine minerality.
In the book The Dirty Guide To Wine by Alice Feiring and Pascaline Lepeltier MS, our friend and consultant Pedro Parra explains very well the effect of granite in soils: "granite means that there is a lot of quarz. Quarz means energy, and more importantly, quarz means porosity. Porosity equals air. As far as roots are concerned, water movement equals life. That all sounds simple, but you don't get that combination in soils that often. Granite creates very healthy, deep roots”.
Minerality
First of all, I realize and agree that the vine does not absorb the geological minerality from the soil into the grapes and consequently into the wine. It is capable of absorbing only small amounts of mineral ions or nutrients, as explained by plant physiologists, and in a final concentration of about 0.2% in wines, they taste like absolutely nothing. I had a Cartesian training in some of the best wine schools in the world and this is very clear to me.
Secondly, paradoxically, geological minerality (from stones and soils in the vineyards) exists in wines. This is obvious and ululant. I recognize, as do other sommeliers and professional tasters, the soil in the aromas, flavors and texture, even in blind tastings. If the soil was only a substrate for anchoring the vines, which only influenced hydrology, the supply of basic nutrients for their subsistence and consequently their vegetative vigour, it makes no difference whether the Dão was based on granite or schist. But we know very well the gigantic difference of the wines that are born in the granite of the region, and we perceive very well this minerality in the aromas and flavours of its great wines.
Guilherme Corrêa
Dão Subregions
The 7 subregions
Cool area and good white wines. With few producers, but quite interesting and close to Carregal do Sal. With greater diurnal temperature variation, due to the colder nights given the proximity to the Alva River and Serra da Estrela and Serra do Açor.
This region makes a bit of a climatic transition between the Dão of Silgueiros and the Dão of Carregal do Sal. It tends to be wetter and rainier to the north and drier and more temperate to the south (Mortágua), in the latter with soils also of granitic origin, although more clayey and with the presence of patches of ferric shales heading towards Luso.
This is an exceptional sub-region for producing wines of great freshness and elegance, due to the effect of the higher altitude and proximity to the moderating influences of Serra da Estrela. The behavior of most grape varieties in this area is more elegant and tense. Colder sub-region, longer cycles.
It is a very interesting area due to its more northerly location, despite more rainfall and humidity. It encompasses three river valleys (Dão, Vouga and Coja). It has small slopes and tends to have longer cycles.
The big difference between Carregal do Sal and Nelas inside Terras de Senhorim sub-region is that normally the pressure and occurrence of rain from the area of Viseu and Silgueiros stops in Nelas and Tondela. Many times it rains in Nelas (rains coming from west) and not in Carregal do Sal. The Carregal do Sal area is therefore drier and earlier in terms of maturation, however it has cool mornings as the other sub-regions, being somewhat more arid/dry in summer. Domínio do Açor enjoys the freshness and continentality of the Dão, but at the same time its mesoclimate is less marginal than in Serra da Estrela, the grapes ripen slowly and with an immense balance between sugars and acids, and a very high load of aromatic precursors, the "perfect terroir!
Area very similar to Penalva do Castelo, although slightly drier. Soils of reddish granitic sand with some presence of schist and clay.
The most central and well-known area of the Dão wine region. A moderately rugged terrain and marked humidity. A large percentage of producers are located here, and many focused on a more potent expression of Dão.
Experts
“What do you look for in a red wine? Do you favour elegance over power and concentration? Do you prefer a wine that is balanced and food friendly over one that’s soft and sweetly fruited? If so, the red wines of Dão could be just what you are looking for”
Dr. Jamie Goode, wineanorak.com
“Dão is sometimes likened to Portugal’s Burgundy. It’s not because of any physical similarity between the regions, but because of the style of wine. Like red Burgundy, good Dão doesn’t rely on power for its effect, but instead aims at subtlety and finesse, a cause helped by the good natural acidity of the grapes. These wines range from light, peppery and spicy to more full bodied and fruity, but there is almost always a lovely suppleness and brightness to the fruit. (They) still retain their essentially Portuguese character, which is surely a good thing in a world of increased standardization and uniformity”
Dr. Jamie Goode, wineanorak.com
“This DOP in north central Portugal produces some of the country’s most elegant, mineral red wines”
Jancis Robinson, The Oxford Companion to Wine
“Dão will surely realise its potential before too long”
Jancis Robinson
“There’s been a shift in recent years towards wine drinkers looking for more freshness and elegance, and few regions do this better than Dão, which boasts a dramatic landscape of granite mountains and pine forests”
IWSC (International Wine & Spirit Competition)
“This large and diverse Portuguese wine region, Dão, is now playing to its strengths, with innovative producers focusing on native grapes, reviving old vineyards and experimenting with both new and traditional winemaking styles”
Sarah Ahmed, Decanter
“The Dão, with its granite soil, produces wines that are driven by minerality and structure. They age equally well, always preserving a firm and solid core”
Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast