Portugal: Dão and Beira Interior wines are on the rise – 07/06/2023 – Tourism

Portugal: Dão and Beira Interior wines are on the rise – 07/06/2023 – Tourism


In the heart of Dão, Quinta da Taboadella tells the story of the rebirth of the first demarcated wine region in Portugal. It is an example of how the country’s viticulture gains prestige with excellent labels, combining sophistication, technology and tradition.

With its majestic mountains, the Dão is home to grape varieties such as touriga nacional and encruzado, which, in turn, give rise to elegant wines that have been awarded at home and abroad.

Located in Silvã de Cima, in a mountainous massif that protects the vineyards from the Atlantic sea air and the dry winds of Spain, Taboadella is the starting point of an enogastronomic journey through the region known as Portuguese Burgundy.

The Amorim family enterprise, which also owns Quinta da Vinha Nova, in the Douro, has as its differentials ancient vineyards spread over 42 hectares, a country house that won the Relais & Châteaux seal and an ultramodern winery.

With 2,500 m², the wood and cork building opened in 2020 was designed by architect Carlos Castanheira. It is from there that 180,000 bottles per year of wines are made from autochthonous (native) grape varieties, in a terroir of granitic soils, which give splendor to the production.

The Taboadella Grand Villae Reserva, top of the line among reds, and the Encruzado Reserva White can be tasted after enjoying the barrel room on a walkway made of recycled wood. Highlight for the cement vats. “It’s in fashion and brings minerality, softens the tannins and makes the wines more elegant”, says guide Helena Lopes.

Wine tasting can be done in the garden overlooking a Roman wine press, a stone tank from the 1st century, which preserves the grape pressing part, filtering holes and an area to collect the must.

The experience is completed with accommodation at Casa Villae 1255 (€3,500 for two nights, or R$18,447). The terrace of the stone manor house invites you to contemplate the surrounding vineyards.

Dão has been at the forefront in the production of so-called still wines since 1908. The wine region is surrounded by five mountains.

The thermal amplitude of hot days and cool nights, more altitude, soil minerality and acidity result in already recognized wines. There are 177 producers with certification of controlled origin. The largest winery in Dão, Quinta de Cabriz produces 6 million liters/year of labels such as Casa de Santar and Passo dos Cunhas.

Paço dos Cunhas, a 17th-century farmhouse, attracts tourists in search of the secrets of labels like the Cobrador Wine, produced in 7 hectares of “old vineyard”, from which 11,000 bottles come out a year.

The itinerary continues through Santar Vila Jardim, a landscaping project where you can dive into vineyards that give rise to labels such as Condessa de Santar and Conde de Santar.

The visit begins at the house of the Conde de Santar e Magalhães, built in the 16th century. The beautiful garden of the residence was restructured with an internal vineyard where touriga nacional and merlot, a blend from Memórias de Santar, were planted. Aromatic and elegant wines to be tasted with delicacies from the local gastronomy, such as Serra da Estrela cheese.

Raw sheep’s milk (from the Bordaleira breed), thistle flower (natural curd), salt and ancestral wisdom are the secret of the famous buttery cheese.

Quality that can also be found in excellent regional cuisine restaurants, such as DeRaiz, in the village of Rebordinho, ten minutes from the center of Viseu. The couple Inês Beja and Nuno Fonte rescued recipes from their grandmothers, such as green eggs and soft pastries, in a sophisticated menu.

The young chefs worked in the kitchen of the famous Mesa de Lemos, which boasts a Michelin star. Four years ago, they decided to undertake with recipes from the family’s yellowed notebooks.

The tour continues through Beira Interior, the highest wine region in Portugal, with a Controlled Denomination of Origin since 1999. There are 16 thousand hectares of vineyards, close to the Spanish border.

Via the A23 motorway, you can reach Adega 23, a warehouse converted into a winery in the midst of 12 hectares of vineyards.

Fruit of the passion of ophthalmologist Manuela Carmona, a native of the region and based in Lisbon, the winery flourished in a shale soil with quartz and a microclimate, translated into the freshness of Adega 23 Reserva 2018, voted the best wine in Beira Interior last year.

In historic Guarda, the highest city in Portugal, you can design a personalized itinerary when visiting the Solar do Vinho da Beira Interior. There are 3,100 hectares of vineyards spread over 70 wineries.

“We have wines at an altitude of 800 meters, which guarantees freshness and acidity”, says Rodolfo Queiroz, president of the Beira Interior Viticulture Commission, which has award-winning labels such as Quinta dos Terms and Quinta dos Cardos.

With a wine list of 530 labels, the Nobre restaurant is an invitation to eat and drink at an altitude of 1,044 meters overlooking the Sé da Guarda, a cathedral that took 250 years to build.

The journalist traveled at the invitation of the Regional Agency for the Promotion of Tourism in the Center of Portugal

WHERE TO EAT

DeRaiz Restaurant
Rua da Capela, nº 13, Rebordinho, Viseu. restauranteraiz.pt


Paço dos Cunhas Santar
Largo do Paço de Santar, Santar. 1990.wine


Restaurante Nobre Vinhos e Tal
Largo Dr. Amândio Paúl, nº 5, Guarda, @nobrevinhosetal


WHAT TO VISIT

Vale da Estrela cheese factory
National Road 16, nº 43, São Cosmado, Mangualde. valedaestrela.pt


Winery Adega 23
Yellow road, Sarnadas de Ródão (exit 20 of the A23). adega23.pt


Santar Vila Jardim Winery
Av. Viscountess of Taveiro, Nelas. santarvilajardim.pt


Quinta da Winery Taboadella
Silvã de Cima, Satão, Viseu. amorimfamilystates.com





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