Wines (48 View)

Orange Wine

• 40% Cerceal Branco, 30% Encruzado, 30% Malvasia Fina
• Hand-harvested from granite soils
• Spontaneous fermentation
• Macerated on the skins for 20 days
• Aged for five months in used French barrels
• Vegan-friendly

Organic

Alvaro Castro inherited Quinta da Pellada, his family estate, in 1980, replanted, and released his first vintage in 1989. Since then, oblivious to trends and fads, he has been making wines that please him and are true to his memories of old guard 1970/80’s Dao wines. Quinta da Pellada is arguably the best producer in the Dao. History shows that vines have been grown at Quinta da Pellada since at least the XVI century, when in 1527 the crown’s treasury taxed the property ‘80 barrels to the king.’ Although impossible to verify now what the king thought, let alone if the barrels ever got to him, it is clear that the taxes are an irrefutable certification of the wine’s existence!” DAC Tinto is an outstanding example of Dao’s style, earthy and medium bodied, elegant and feminine with a ‘less is more’ winemaking approach. The estate is surrounded by pine trees on a 500 meter-high hill overlooking Serra da Estrela, Portugal’s tallest mountain (2.000 meters). Dao is a region well-protected by mountains. To the east, Serra da Estrela protects from Spain’s continental heat, to the west, Bussaco is a wall to Atlantic winds and to the north Caramulo shields Dao from the extreme Douro Valley temperatures.

Complex, earthy and bright, DAC Tinto has the unmistakable stamp of its provenance. The estate has a single location near Seia, central Dao. DAC Tinto is an extraordinary value wine, marked by an intuitive, ‘less is more’ approach winemaking and sustainable agriculture.

30% Touriga Nacional, 20% Jaen, 30% Tinta Roriz, 20% Alfrocheiro. Organically grown vines planted in 1988. Tended in granite, clay and sandy soil at 550 m (1,804 ft) elevation. Dark ruby in color, it offers aromas of crushed herbs with hints of black pepper. Silky smooth mouth feel with concentrated smoky black fruit and earthy flavors, with silky tannins and a long finish. - Importer

Organic / Natural

Lightly smoky/cedarwood aroma, suggesting a touch of positive reduction. But also the stoniness that comes from granite soils. Underneath those complexing notes there's pure, piercing citrus and green fruits. There's marked tension and slight chalky effect in the dry texture. Seems austere – in a good way – and there's no lack of fruit at the core. Bone dry and a touch salty on the finish. Just so salivating. And then an unexpected creaminess at the very end of the long finish. Piercing purity.

Organic / Natural

95 points Wine Advocate
The old-vine white 2021 Vinhas Velhas Branco was produced with the fruit from some 15 small plots of old vines aged between 60 and 130 years of age and planted with a myriad of old varieties (Síria, Bical, Fernão Pires, Encruzado, Arinto, Cerceal and Malvasia Fina) on slopes with granite soils. It's inspired by the natural vinification of some Burgundy wines. It fermented with indigenous yeasts and matured in 500-liter barrels for 12 months and a further 10 months in stainless steel. It has moderate ripeness and alcohol (12%) with a pH of 3.33 and 5.29 grams of acidity. It has an incredible nose that is nuanced, complex, elegant and changing, with notes of herbs, wild flowers and earth. It has a very tasty and saline palate that is subtle with great purity of flavors, clean and precise. It reminds me of some whites from Ganevat. 7,900 bottles produced. As always, it was bottled with full malolactic, unfiltered and unfined. It was bottled in April 2023.

Organic / Natural

93 points Wine Advocate
The old-vine red 2021 Vinhas Velhas Tinto comes from different plots of mixed varieties, 75% of them Baga, Jaen and Tinta Amarela and the rest some 20 old varieties, some almost lost, Marufo, Tinta Pinheira, Negro Mouro, Tinta Carvalha, Bastardo, Alfrocheiro, Touriga Nacional, Alicante Bouschet and many others. The fermentation was inspired by Henri Jayer, a cold soak and a soft vinification, he calls an infusion. It matured in 225-, 400-, 500- and 600-liter oak barrels for 18 months. It has 13.5% alcohol, a pH of 3.69 and 6.01 grams of acidity. Madeira told me that the search is "for a wine with intense flavors, depth, mineral, fresh and with salivating saltiness, a wine for the table." In 2021, the wines have lower alcohol, and somehow, this wine feels a little more marked by the oak despite the fact that the oak was all used. It has fine tannins and good freshness, very tasty flavors and a fine thread. 7,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in August 2023.

António Madeira is one of the leading quality producers in Dão despite being quite young in the regions. He came back from France and established his operation in Dão in 2010. He has seven hectares of vines spread over 20 different plots, five of them old—50 to 130 years of age—in the villages of Santa Marinha, São Martinho, Paços da Serra, Vales and Vodra e Pinhanços. He works biodynamically but has no certification. The wines are all fermented with indigenous yeasts, with no oenological products and minimal sulfur. He now produces 60,000 bottles—up from 30,000—since he enlarged the winery in 2021, and he grew with entry-level wines from purchased wines. This is the first time his wines have been tasted and reviewed by The Wine Advocate, and it was certainly the coup de coeur in this article. The vintage seems to have a big impact in the quality of the wines, and the ones from 2021 were clearly better than the ones from 2020 and 2022.

Organic / Biodynamic / Natural

Alvarelhão (60%), Jaen (20%), Trincadeira (10%), Fernão Pires (10%).
Alvarelhão had 10 days skin maceration. Jaen and Trincadeira were macerated together for 4 days.

Bright and open colour. Wine with personality, however it is light and fruity, with an intense aroma of red fruits, such as raspberry and wild strawberry. Chillable!

The grapes come from a vineyard with an average age of about 50 years, with granitic soil, and an average altitude of 400m, located in Mouraz. Manual harvest of white and red varieties together, in the middle of September. The grapes were placed in stainless steel vats, after which they were destemmed and the must was spontaneously vinified, with temperature control. It aged during the winter in vats.

Organic

A light-bodied, chillable red with a crunchy acidity.
Very old vines 80-100+ years old grown on granite slopes of the Serra de Estrela. There are several varieties here but mostly Baga and Jaen. Natural fermentation in lagares with 20% whole clusters. A long maceration time but without extraction. The wine finishes fermentation and malo in casks.20 months aging in in old barriques and a 2500L old wooden vat. The wine is bottled unfiltered.
11% abv