Characterization
The Demarcated Region of the Dão offers more than meets the eye. It is not a modern invention but dates back to 1908. It merits the visitor’s attention for several reasons: First, because the vineyards are hidden by pinetress, tucked away behind gorse and blackberry bushes, behind a wall. Sitting in the car we are always several feet away from the soil. We see little or nothing. It is important to see off and explore: meet the people, tread the earth and breathe the magic air of a wine cellar. Secondly, no two quintas (a type of farm) are alike. Each one is a world of its own. As a matter of fact, a master piece is produced here in secret : Dão wine.
The Demarcated Region of the Dão is more than the geography of the area: people with the sense of purpose, a landscape of irrestible charm, tradition and modernity in one thousand-year-old cultures, superb cuisine, quintessentially Portuguese, an open heart the size of the world and a wine which is unique in the world..
Nature bestowed a series of happy geographic coincidences on the Demarcated Region of the Dão. Valleys with gentle hills and slopes nestle among high mountains. Despite being temperate, the climate is cold and wet in the winter and hot and dry in the summer. These unique conditions are ideal for producting first-class wines.
The Dão Region - with geographical area of about 376, 000 hectares – includes the municipalities of Arganil, Oliveira do Hospital e Tábua from the district of Coimbra; Aguiar da Beira, Fornos de Algodres, Gouveia e Seia from the district of Guarda; Carregal do Sal, Mangualde, Mortágua, Nelas, Penalva do Castelo, Santa Comba Dão, Sátão, Tondela and Viseu from the district of Viseu.
The wine production of the Region depends on the weather conditions each year. Therefore of the about 500,000 hectolitres of wines produced in normal years, only 250.000 or 300.000 are likely to have the Dão appellation, divided approximately in the following way.
The vineyards which produce Dão wines are planted on granite lands usually of poor fertility. The different schistose outcrops are mostly in the South and West of the Region, in an area considered marginal in viticultural terms.
Dão wines are the perfect example of the union between tradition and modernity. Only in a region where past and future meet, it is possible to find technologically advanced infrastructures within traditional Wine Co-operatives and Vinification Centres. This is how distinctive, quality wines are created - the result of a unique relationship between man and his land.
People say that it is very common for summer to take its holidays in the winter and for winter to encroach well into summer.
One of the main virtues of Dão wines comes from this apparent climate set back. UDACA, a genuine expert in the distinctiveness of the region,is the standard bearer of their remarkable and unbeatable qualities. Everything in the name of Dão.
The Demarcated Region of the Dão offers more than meets the eye. It is not a modern invention but dates back to 1908. It merits the visitor’s attention for several reasons: First, because the vineyards are hidden by pinetress, tucked away behind gorse and blackberry bushes, behind a wall. Sitting in the car we are always several feet away from the soil. We see little or nothing. It is important to see off and explore: meet the people, tread the earth and breathe the magic air of a wine cellar. Secondly, no two quintas (a type of farm) are alike. Each one is a world of its own. As a matter of fact, a master piece is produced here in secret : Dão wine.
The Demarcated Region of the Dão is more than the geography of the area: people with the sense of purpose, a landscape of irrestible charm, tradition and modernity in one thousand-year-old cultures, superb cuisine, quintessentially Portuguese, an open heart the size of the world and a wine which is unique in the world..
Nature bestowed a series of happy geographic coincidences on the Demarcated Region of the Dão. Valleys with gentle hills and slopes nestle among high mountains. Despite being temperate, the climate is cold and wet in the winter and hot and dry in the summer. These unique conditions are ideal for producting first-class wines.
The Dão Region - with geographical area of about 376, 000 hectares – includes the municipalities of Arganil, Oliveira do Hospital e Tábua from the district of Coimbra; Aguiar da Beira, Fornos de Algodres, Gouveia e Seia from the district of Guarda; Carregal do Sal, Mangualde, Mortágua, Nelas, Penalva do Castelo, Santa Comba Dão, Sátão, Tondela and Viseu from the district of Viseu.
The wine production of the Region depends on the weather conditions each year. Therefore of the about 500,000 hectolitres of wines produced in normal years, only 250.000 or 300.000 are likely to have the Dão appellation, divided approximately in the following way.
The vineyards which produce Dão wines are planted on granite lands usually of poor fertility. The different schistose outcrops are mostly in the South and West of the Region, in an area considered marginal in viticultural terms.
Dão wines are the perfect example of the union between tradition and modernity. Only in a region where past and future meet, it is possible to find technologically advanced infrastructures within traditional Wine Co-operatives and Vinification Centres. This is how distinctive, quality wines are created - the result of a unique relationship between man and his land.
People say that it is very common for summer to take its holidays in the winter and for winter to encroach well into summer.
One of the main virtues of Dão wines comes from this apparent climate set back. UDACA, a genuine expert in the distinctiveness of the region,is the standard bearer of their remarkable and unbeatable qualities. Everything in the name of Dão.
